Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

28 reviews

awebofstories's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, and Body horror

pagesofkenzie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Body horror, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide attempt, Grief, Addiction, and Death of parent

theliterarybrewer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Addiction

kaywhiteley's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Addiction

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Police brutality

amy_park's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.0

Surreal and dark! This book centres on a mother daughter relationship within the native Canadian community. From very early you can tell the mother is experiencing post natal psychosis, which is very dark at times and hard to read. I wasn't expecting the extent of the magical realism and horror aspects in this book. At some points I did struggle with understanding what was going on.
I don't think I gave this book enough time when I first started reading, I feel this book needed you to spend a little bit of time to establish yourself in the plot and better your understanding. This did effect my overall reading expereince.
I liked learning about the native North American experience and their traditions and customs, the commentary of the native American experience was insightful and heartbreaking.
I though this was OK,  I don't think it will be shortlisted for the women's prize 2024.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Racism

Moderate: Child death and Addiction

kirstym25's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Genocide

_inge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5 stars 

This book had me hooked from the start. Alice felt incredibly real, and I had no issue envisioning her life from the first pages. I love especially how her husband is seen to try his hardest but doesn’t quite get ‘it’, which made their communication issues understandable - even though this is usually something that can really put me off in a novel. The way Alice’s mental health develops felt very real too, I’m not surprised the author consulted women with similar experiences on this as it did come across as natural. Initially she’s quite funny and seems a bit conflicted, but gradually she spirals further and further. Some segments reminded me of Mona Awad’s writing. I love magical realism, horror, and unreliable narrators, so this was perfect for me. 

The only downside to me is that the last quarter didn’t feel very necessary. The story seems to wrap up at one point, and I didn’t really need more of the plot to feel satisfied with the ending. I wouldn’t have minded an ambiguous ending, given the story as a whole could be interpreted in different ways as well. It would’ve been clear enough to feel like a fitting end. Instead, the last quarter increases the magical elements and wants to highlight generational trauma more. I actually felt less satisfied with this additional context than I would’ve felt if the book ended about 50 pages earlier. 

If you’re into some of the topics I’ve mentioned here, you’re surely going to enjoy reading this book. I’d like to read more from Native authors after reading this as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Racism

Moderate: Self harm, Child death, and Gun violence

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Racism, Murder, Police brutality, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Genocide, Car accident, and Death of parent

fiaharringbook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was a life-changer for me. It was like Get Out but make it Indigenous Canadian, meets Everything Everywhere All at Once or Interstellar. The scope of imagination, creativity and originality in the way this story was told was gob-smacking. My favourite book of the year so far, absolutely bloody exquisite, I cannot recommend enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Alcoholism, Body horror, Classism, Drug abuse, Genocide, Addiction, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Gore, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Racial slurs

caitlinxreads's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Racial slurs, Cannibalism, Body horror, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Addiction, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Self harm