Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

16 reviews

emilb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Antisemitism, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Suicide, Islamophobia, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

meremeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

I've never read a book where I've felt so heartwrenchingly seen in a character. So awkward that she's the character everyone else seems to find excruciating to read! 
Untreated PTSD is a debilitating experience, it turns you so disfunctional. It felt nice to read a character that is actually experiencing the effects of the serious trauma she went through in the first book. (Rare for sci fi!!) 
Also, I genuinely felt politically challenged by this book. It guides you through some really interesting political thought.
I can't wait for the next book, I'm so desperate for more from this series. This one's a definite improvement on the first book, which makes sense as it was a debut! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Forced institutionalization

beccaand's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Racism, Islamophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Eating disorder

seullywillikers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was much darker than "Axiom's End," and as such, a bit harder to read. I love the premise of Extraterrestrial personhood being debated on the American political, and world stage. The new characters were interesting and I really got invested in them. Towards the end, I was feeling like "okay geez, how much more is there actually" but I'm pleased with where the ending takes us. I'm hoping there's another installation in this series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gore, Islamophobia, Confinement, Deportation, Racism, and Addiction

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Infertility, and Eating disorder

elysareadsitall's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

2.0

I read 75% of this book. I read as much of Cora's PTSD and suicide attempts and Kaveh's helplessness and feelings of guilt as I could, and then I skipped ahead to the last chapter and newspaper insert. I don't understand what happened between the first book and the second. Book one became one of my favorite books because the first contact aspect was fascinating, the pace was fast, and the question of personhood was intriguing. In book two, the aliens' personhood is the big question, but the book barely focuses on that part. The majority of the book is stuck in Cora's and (to a lesser extent) Kaveh's trauma Their inner thoughts and problematic relationship would have been fine to explore, but not this much! I think the book completely lacks focus and reads more like literary fiction that focuses on trauma than science fiction.

I was extremely disappointed in this sequel. However, because the styles are so different, I'd give a third book a chance if she writes one. I don't know if I'd be motivated to pick up anything else she writes though.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Self harm

_doze_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Grief, Gore, Mental illness, Gun violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Antisemitism, Self harm, Drug use, and Sexual content

Minor: Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual violence

ling_prof's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Blood, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Violence, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Addiction, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, and Hate crime

Minor: Forced institutionalization

softanimal's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Self harm, Grief, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Violence, Suicide, Racial slurs, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Racism, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Torture, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Deportation, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Genocide, and Xenophobia

frahhn's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

3.0

Very torn—I liked the introduction of a second POV because Cora can grate on me, sort of feel like she is Bella Swan-esque. After two books I thought I would have a better sense of who this character is, but in book two she’s been through so much trauma that dealing with that is the focus rather than further exploring the character and encouraging her growth. The character herself expresses a total inability to know herself so maybe it’s fully intentional and I just don’t like it! That said, I think this was the better ending between the two books, and I’m really hoping the next book will have major growth for Cora and Ampersand (Jude), or if not, that the tragedy of being too alien to each other is played out meaningfully. Going back to the dual POV, I was pretty torn about the relationship that develops—I liked Kaveh a TON and then felt more meh once romance and sex was involved, but not enough to be unmoved by the really devastating development towards the end of the book. I really loved the introduction of Nic and his and Kaveh’s relationship throughout the text. I think Nic is my favorite character in the series yet, and I’m really curious to see how addiction will be handled in the third book, with Kaveh’s words and lessons in mind. Nit picky stuff, I need the word existential to stop being in the text (lol sorry! I feel the same about GRRM’s use of jape) and also sometimes the application of modern terms and modern discourse are jarring to me—I know the alt-right has existed forever with journalists and more covering them forever but I would have appreciated slightly different terms/adjacent terms for some of the contemporary phenomena happening in an alternative, earlier time that obviously serves as a comment on ours—Takes me out of the narrative a little, and I even often agree with the politics. I think it would then work a little better for the purposes of an engaging science fiction novel in addition to being contemporary political commentary—which of course informs any book fiction or not—but I think working well as both the novel and the commentary is what makes a classic? Anyway, hoping the next book goes full “I <3 My Monster Boyfriend” per a piece of LE merch :) and that Cora’s dad gets some supervillain-esque send-off akin to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Eating disorder, and Death

Moderate: Islamophobia and Forced institutionalization

claremcg's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Still interested in the world and the bigger questions this book raises, but overall it wasn't as strong as Axiom's End. The plot felt more aimless and contrived at points and the alien characters less completing. The biggest drawback for me was how dark the content matter got, and how uncritically much of  it was presented. The reading experience was so dark I almost gave up reading at multiple points.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Self harm, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Grief, Dementia, Xenophobia, Violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, and Toxic relationship