Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Dead House (The Dead House #1) by Dawn Kurtagich

4 reviews

sarkenobi's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Eating disorder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide attempt, Car accident, and Excrement

Occult, demonism, DID, found footage

itshrewsbury's review

dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

Very teen-oriented even though it attempts to maneuver several heavy topics like DID/psychosis and demonic possession. I enjoyed the style it was written in, with the narrative structured as having all the pieces of evidence put together after the fact, in pieces of diary and snippets of camera footage. The descriptions of being “other” and the earlier delusion scenes were well written and I enjoyed the build up, but the end felt anti-climatic to me, tbh. 
I guessed the twist ending though, so take it with a grain of salt.

(There’s a weird moment towards the end where, during a video description, which the entire book has been narrated as objective 3rd person, says “I fucking hate crying”. It’s the first time a first person statement was used in an objective transcript like that and it really threw me off, looked for hidden meaning but couldn’t find one so 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Edit: thought on it a bit more and this book attempts to do so many things with the plot, and on the whole it drags down the narrative. There’s a magic system that seems to be trying to take root, but it’s mostly poorly explained and confusing.

13+

TW/CW: murder, self harm, psychosis, unreality, institutionalization, possession, mention of assault, blood 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Violence, Self harm, and Murder

okaynextcrisis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The journey had me SHOOK, but the end falls a little flat 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Car accident and Sexual content

thebookloverscoffeehouse's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization