Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

6 reviews

bearlynormalursa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Mental illness, Grief, and Emotional abuse

sarah_amy's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Tom Hank's narration scores most of the points in this novel. I love his art of storytelling. However, I found the story itself uninteresting. The characters had plenty of substance; I liked the relationship between the brother and sister in particular, but the plot itself was quite unmoving. 2 siblings unable to move forward from the past until they eventually do.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

andrewhatesham's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cursing, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Abandonment, Death of parent, Dementia, and Grief

futuretreeman's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Medical content, Drug use, Medical trauma, Grief, Death, Bullying, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

all I wanted was for Maeve to be happy. She deserved peace

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Mental illness, Sexism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness

Minor: Medical content

readingwithkelso's review

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

REVIEW: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 

The Dutch House is a family drama that tells the story of Danny and Maeve, a dynamic brother and sister duo, over the course of five decades. It is also the story of their childhood home or “the Dutch House,” which plays a pivotal role throughout the novel. 

This book was absolutely perfect. I started this on audiobook and within an hour of starting I knew that I needed a print copy as well. I ended up finishing this one by reading along with the audiobook, which is narrated by the one and only Tom Hanks. 

I absolutely loved the bond between Danny and Maeve. Their love and support for each other is something that all siblings aspire to. I have also fallen in love with the Dutch House and am going to need my future husband to build me a replica. 

Surprisingly, the pivotal events of the book evoked extremely strong within me. There’s also a delicious twist at the end that I did NOT see coming.

All in all, this book caught me completely surprise and ended up being one of my favorite reads of 2020. This may have been my first Ann Patchett book, but it definitely will not be the last.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness