Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

25 reviews

eliz_sock's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Minor: Infidelity, Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Death

sea_tea_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense

4.0

So much trauma, blanketed by comedy and fantasy, told from the perspective of a young girl. 
It was interesting how each character evolved, their backstories slowly unraveled in bits and pieces, through stories and fairy tales.

[Audiobook: I thoroughly enjoyed Joan Walker's narration of the audiobook. I probably would have DNF if it weren't for her storytelling.]

My heart broke when the wurse died. 💔😭

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Pregnancy, Stalking, Violence, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: War and Murder

suzydunk'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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Bullying

Moderate: Mental illness, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Cancer, Addiction, Animal death, and Child abuse

bookishoptimist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

I really enjoyed this book more than expected.  A journey through the loss of a loved one with a unique twist.  

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Animal death, Mental illness, Bullying, Cursing, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman was cute, but not my favorite Backman book. I really liked the characters and the adventure, but I feel like the narration wasn’t quite right. Our main character felt both older and younger than she was, and while kids are obviously all over the place developmentally, it felt a little too inconsistent. I also felt like the fantasy world aspect, though believable, was a little confusing. It was a lot to remember throughout the book and while I liked the grand nature of it (since it matched the Grandmother’s personality) it made reading those moments a little difficult. I did like the way the fantasy world between Elsa and her grandmother extrapolated to the other members of their building to help piece together what it was Granny wanted Elsa to learn. I really liked the heart of the story, even though Elsa’s narration was a bit hard to follow. It really addressed the complexities of life and death and what it means to fall somewhere in between. Though different from Backman’s other novels stylistically, the “faith in humanity” messaging that I love so much in his writing was still present and forefront. Backman has a way of turning difficult topics into digestible stories, that I think speaks to his understanding of human nature. He’s certainly one of my favorite authors at this point, and I can’t wait for my next Backman read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Grief

ridesthesun's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad 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

4.75

Oh this was just gorgeous 🥺🥺 this narrative style is so well done; everything is tied together and only reveiled a layer at a time, but the reader is lead through the revelations so gently that it feels like you're living along with the characters, finding things out and making sense of the world right alongside Elsa. Community and hope and family and forgiveness 🥺

No one's all shit, and no one's all not-shit 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Animal death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Bullying, Stalking, and Addiction

Minor: Cancer and War

corriejn's review

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

A sweet and charming story of loss, friendship, imagination, trauma, and family. 

The last book I'd read by this author was "Beartown" and this one is wildly different, which speaks to his versatility.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Cancer, Pregnancy, Stalking, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and War

Minor: Sexism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity

you don't get 5 stars if the dog dies

hmetwade's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Mental illness, War, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Stalking, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

embla_v's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful

3.75

En ganska bra bok som jag läst pga skolan. 

Boken handlar om en 7-åring vars mormor dör vilket leder till att flickan skickas ut på en skattjakt. En jakt efter sanningen om alla hon känner och framförallt om sin mormor. 

Rekommenderar till all som gillar Backman böcker. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcohol, Violence, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Stalking, War, Abandonment, Cursing, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

cassie7e's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.0

I didn't love this book and I'm not totally sure what I didn't like about it. It seemed to try to make up for the dark parts with sweetness that came across as saccharine instead. I did appreciate how the fairytales and real world stories interwove.

Since I've soured on JKR the constant references to Harry Potter don't feel quite so whimsical and heartwarming.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Infidelity, Death of parent, Mental illness, Animal death, Grief, Cursing, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Stalking, Excrement, and Drug abuse