Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas

32 reviews

aseel_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I don't really understand this book... it reminds of this dark academia/fantasy/translated East European book I read, the plasma (if that's the right spelling) was just werid as. the pacing was a bit off and I felt like the short snippets of everything made it really hard to understand the characters. I was interested in the mental state of the characters likes ines or baby but mm, done pretty poorly. the ending was just like 'ah okay then'. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual content and Vomit

elliesberrie's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Mental illness

Minor: Death

kylieqrada's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm in the minority that loved this book and it makes me so happy!!!!! Honestly it reminded me alot of The Magicians by Lev Grossman, but a little less whimsical, and replace the magic with science. But that dark, kinda ethereal, am I high or what is going on right now kind of vibe was definitely the same in both books. And the ending, while very abrupt, fit the overall story arc to a t. And the mental illness rep was everything, and of a flavor I haven't seen before. Very gritty and real. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

lackadaisical_ally's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death and Alcohol

rhaase0509's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I think this book was well written, but just wasn't my preference. The narrator seems to struggle with mental illness, creating a sense of detachment from the world around her. I did not find the story particularly engaging and I predicted each of the twists.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, and Suicide

whatevertheysay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Confinement

Moderate: Death

rosita's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

As soon as I started reading, I was trapped in Catherine House, and it only got better. If you are up for a dark, setting-driven story with casual queer and poc representation, and a sprinkle of science fiction, can't recommend it enough.
It doesnt really have a plot, but i loved that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Drug use, and Vomit

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Suicide

ballgownsandbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Animal cruelty

thevietvegan's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I like how sex positive the book is, and there is diversity in sexuality in a way that felt normal even though it's based in the late 90s and sexuality in the world then was not quite as accepted to be fluid. But Catherine House is it's own little world anyway so it felt believable. The love interest

Theo

as a character seemed inconsistent to me, so in love with the idea of Ines instead of actually Ines. In the end, very few people truly understood Ines and that seemed so lonely.

It also ends on a cliffhanger and that felt unsatisfying, but at the same time, I understand that open-endedness was the only way for it to go without an entire other book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

podanotherjessi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I feel like I'm going to sit with this book in my mind for a very long time and never actually understand it. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I wouldn't recommend this for plot readers. Not a lot happens in this book, and the structure is weird. It's all about the characters, specifically the lead. You're in her head dealing with her confusion, and it's pretty great.
Also, for me, the depiction of stressful, exclusive, small college pressure was just very, very well done. I've known people that handled college like almost every one of these characters. It was a highlight to read for sure.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Grief, Animal cruelty, and Death