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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
27 reviews
cerasaurusrex's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Abortion, Addiction, Cannibalism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Bullying, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Racism, Drug abuse, Gore, Grief, and Violence
melshoo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Body horror
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Stalking, Colonisation, Murder, Mental illness, and Sexual assault
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
parisfba09's review
5.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Torture, Mental illness, Colonisation, Rape, Violence, and Blood
it's hard to give content warnings for a short story collection. i mean it's a horror collection so all these stories are pretty graphic and bloody - but some go into a lot of detail about sexual assault, pedophilia and torture, there's also a story about a man experiencing what i think is schizophrenic or bipolar delusions that could be triggering.hillcm91's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Racism, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Abortion, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Violence, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Grief, Rape, and Homophobia
smokeandwires's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Racism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, Rape, Death, Gore, and Mental illness
eficca33's review
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Racial slurs, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Trafficking, Violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Torture, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Animal death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Kidnapping
tainolibrary's review
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Excrement, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Vomit, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
mikcarrington's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I'd initially expected this to be a lot of folklore/supernatural (the title in particular gave me that impression). While there's definitely some of that in there, it does not take the forefront as I think through the incredible stories in this collection. There's such a great range of extremely disturbing to lighter fare, with concerning endings and righteous ones. Many of these stories will likely stick with me for years to come.
Graphic: Pedophilia, Torture, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault
pigeonmellow's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
If you’re considering reading it, you’ll likely find something to enjoy!! It’s an anthology with over 20 short stories by as many authors, so you’re bound to find a story and an author you connect to.
I enjoyed hearing all the different writing styles (I listened to the audiobook version), and especially loved the voice actor Sheldon Elter, who voiced several of the stories. Sheldon Elter brought the characters and action to life with his emotion and voices — and none of his skillful spice distracted from the heart of the story, only served it. Sheldon Elter — you rule!
This book swerved for me towards the end. First, because I wasn’t aware when I picked it up that SA would be a major element in two stories (there was something that border-lined sexual violence in a third one, but it wasn’t viewed as a assault by the character who experienced it). Some readers can get through SA in their stories, but for me, it’s a trigger I can’t get past. Speaking of which: I completely skipped the second to last story (I think it was that one?) because, without warning, it opened with a first-person description of child SA in progress. I couldn’t do that one.
Second — as someone with a mental illness, I’m always hesitant when it comes to horror stories that paint mentally ill people as monsters or mental illness as a supernatural evil. At best, it’s tired — at worst, it’s perpetuating a harmful stigma. So yeah — for me personally, it’s not enjoyable to find that the “horror” of the story is a character being mentally ill and not taking their medication. In this anthology, there was one story that disappointed me in that way.
Lastly, I wasn’t ever creeped out by any of the stories, or on the edge of my seat with any of them — something I was looking forward to, as it was a horror anthology. Maybe that’s because I was listening to the audiobook version, and not reading in silence?
Huge trigger warnings for colonization, racism, white supremacy, racial slurs, talk of genocide and all of that directed at Indigenous people. If that is something that is a trigger for you, just know that all of those topics come up in almost every story. As one would expect, likely, given that these are horror stories written by Indigenous people, about Indigenous characters from this real world, where all of these horrors make up the real past and present.
Okay. ALL THAT BEING SAID: I did *really* love learning more about indigenous culture, and hearing about the fears, battles, resilience and triumphs of indigenous people. I am very interested in continuing to read my fav authors from this anthology! I learned a LOT I didn’t know before, and so much of the writing was so visceral, which I enjoyed immensely. This book has further motivated me to continue reading work by indigenous authors featuring indigenous characters and stories.
I want to note here, too, that horror stories deal with complicating and disturbing topics. So (apart from painting mental illness as an “evil”), I understand that my displeasure at some of these topics mostly means I’m a bit of a picky horror reader!
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Cursing, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Racism
asurasantosha's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Racism, Stalking, Abortion, Animal death, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Violence