Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride

71 reviews

readtomea97's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

So good! So SO good! A great looks at adolescents and how they process grief and mental health. There’s so much I could say about this book, but I’ll just say it’s a short book that really packs a punch. So many lessons on grief, sorrow, learning to forgive yourself and how these feelings present themselves from different cultural aspects. Just great! 5 🌟

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Bullying

purplepenning's review

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Oof. I'm going to need a beat to process this one. My initial response is: 👏👏👏 I'm so glad this book exists and I can see how it might work especially well for teenagers. But it's doing just a few too many things at once for my tastes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Bullying, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Racial slurs

tangleroot_eli's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

A magical realism adventure that's also an allegory for depression. A few notes don't resonate with me, but overall, what a symphony.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gaslighting, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Blood, Death, and Self harm

Minor: Bullying

Moderate: Mind control

christinesmith205's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Bullying

valerira123's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Racism, Grief, Self harm, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

malinski42's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

This is a beautiful book that gives incredibly specific and accurate insight into clinical depression. As someone who has struggled with depression nearly my whole life, I really connected to this book. I really appreciate Amber McBride and her bravery to share this story. It is creative, insightful, and incredibly personal. I truly loved this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Self harm, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

stephanielee's review

dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Racism, Blood, and Self harm

smcaput2's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Grief, Death, Bullying, and Self harm

augustriver's review

emotional hopeful fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Mental illness, and Self harm

ladyhunbun's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This book really connected with me as a therapist working with teens with depression as well as someone who was a teen with depression. At times I struggled with the pacing (though this got better once I picked up the audiobook). Overall a resonant book even if sometimes a little ethereal. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Racism, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts