Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

29 reviews

vannahcabana's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

3.5

In the end this book was good. However, I was confused what was actually happening in the first third of the book. There are a lot of sections broken into emails, letters, and storyline; it was difficult to determine the plot. It did pick up about a third of the way through and was no longer confusing. Cute story- nothing particularly spectacular for me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Mental illness

missgrangerr's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Abandonment

Moderate: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Suicidal thoughts

malhensel's review against another edition

lighthearted mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexism, and Mental illness

kweis's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts

coraliek's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense 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

I started Where'd You Go, Bernadette thinking it was going to be an Oscar Wilde-type comedy of errors, and it started that way, but it quickly became so much more.

It kept me guessing until the end, and on the way there, I laughed, I cried, I rooted for and against characters, I loved every revelation, and I could not put the book down.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

lisdahl's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Mental illness

meganpbennett's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? is a book that's incredibly hard to rate. It's... a mediocre book about a family you hate from the get go. Bee, the daughter, is not a nice person, and it shows throughout the entire story. Bernadette herself suffers from a horrific experience while trying to build the Twenty Mile House, one which people told her to dust herself off and get back on the horse, all the while ignoring what happened. Then she moved to Seattle, and wasted away in a house that was literally falling apart around her ears. The sort of falling apart where it's a miracle social services hasn't been called. 

The novel isn't exactly as described, since a third of the story takes part before the family trip to Antarctica, and it's a little hard to follow, at first, since it's only later revealed that it's Bee creating the story from a dossier she received about the few weeks before Bernadette disappears, causing the perspective to drastically change and the reliability of the narrator to shift from 'unreliable' to 'complete fiction'. 

However, that's what makes this book work, and the fact that we lose that shifting, epistolary story exactly when Bernadette disappears, thoroughly weakening the last 50-100 pages, and causing it to lose a star. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Cursing, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Pregnancy, Grief, Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Bullying, and Gaslighting

sinceslicedbread's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed all of the moving parts of this book.

My only complaint is the ending. I think Sue Lynn getting pregnant was unnecessary and left a lot to be desired at the end. How would this affect the characters’ relationships?

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Classism, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

scottyreadsstuff's review against another edition

funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

This was quite the ride!! 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Misogyny