Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Comeback by Ella Berman

12 reviews

jackieyvette's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This was a beautifully written. Heavy topics and a lot of emotional parts throughout.
Everyone in the book is flawed. From Grace to Esme to Dylan to Laurel to the parents and everyone beyond that, but even the flawed are great to read about here. 
I loved Grace and Esme so much they felt like people I knew. Their mother was such a shit mom, but such an interesting character. Laurel was such a great friend but had so many moments where I wanted to shake her and say this isn't right and you know it. Dylan was somehow simultaneously a great and horrible husband. Everyone else sucks. 

I wish Able would have died in that car accident and I wish Emelia was with them when it happened.

Crying score: cry-angle at the ready. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Abandonment, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

ivanaestaba's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

wow. this was so raw, visceral but so well written it was difficult to put down but difficult to read at times, i really loved this book. check tw! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

karlisimp's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring tense fast-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

Great Story that follows the me too movement. Enjoyable but with many twists and turns and truly cements a complicated female character. Worth the read and a can’t put down book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

ashleereadsbooks692's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

swanous's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A really difficult but great story about an actress dealing with the trauma of being sexually assaulted by a mentor throughout her childhood career. The pace of the story matches the narrative, starting slow and all over the place and getting more focused and clearer as it reaches a climax at the end. Of course one book can never cover all of the ways a story like this can play out, but I think it did a really interesting and meaningful job at exploring complicated facets of her relationships with many others, her relationship with herself, and the emotional experience. The description of some of the most difficult emotions was really vivid beautiful and eerily relatable at times.

I also thought there were some interesting ties from the beginning of the book to the end. For example when she was struggling most and in the deepest part of her isolation in the beginning, she talks about waking from her parents to Disneyland every day. Later, as she’s grappling with whether or not pretending everything is okay is going to be enough to get her through, she has a conversation about hating the perfect LA weather because “it’s like living in Disneyland” that I think reflects her budding realization that she is going to have to open up more and do something about the abuse.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

pcataldo's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-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 really liked this book! Grace really grew on me. I didn't like her at first. The ending was a bit predictable, but still good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Car accident, Self harm, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Homophobia and Injury/Injury detail

booktwinning's review

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Bullying, and Addiction

readwithvic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

audiblybooked's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a dark and compelling story of a young woman struggling to rebuild her life after years of grooming and abuse after her parents leave her in the hands of a predatory Hollywood producer. The MC wasn't always relatable and made many questionable choices, all leading back to the damage done to her psyche by the emotional and sexual abuse she endured, years of gaslighting and manipulation. The story paints a vivid picture of how a young naive teenager, her family, and everyone who is close to them can be manipulated by a man with enough money, power, and influence. This was an excellent read although I was wanting more from the ending. I felt like it ended abruptly and didn't provide an ending that sufficiently addressed all of what the plot had been leading up to. With a more satisfying ending, I would have given this a 5 star rating as the writing felt authentic and the story kept me invested from beginning to end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Transphobia, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

daralexandria's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape

Moderate: Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Deadnaming and Transphobia