Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes

33 reviews

chilivanilli28's review

dark emotional tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Addiction

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Suicide

loreleireads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

4.5

Creepy, unsettling, tense and satisfying. I would've read this in one sitting if I'd had nothing else on my agenda! It started a little slow for me and I had no idea the ride I was in for! After finishing, I immediately went to see what else Ana Reyes had written and was surprised this was her first novel. Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death, Mental illness, Alcohol, Addiction, and Grief

Minor: War and Genocide

strawberrymivvy's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

A spooky, atmospheric and tense read.

A little confusing at times with the changing time line and no real differentiation in the chapters. 

At times I really wondered which way the novel was going, hard to believe this was a first book. Definitely an author to watch

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Drug use

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gaslighting, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Police brutality and War

keelsrn's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Drug use, and Violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and War

kwmcm25's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

archaicrobin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

2.5

First of all, this is not a thriller for everyone. It’s slow paced, the writing is inconsistent, the twist is honestly pretty goofy, and the main character kinda sucks. BUT, this thriller had a twist that evaded me for most of the novel and it was a fun ride from start to finish with some intriguing ideas, even if those ideas are pretty farfetched.  Overall I did enjoy The House in the Pines but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for something polished and cohesive.  This is not a cerebral thriller that will blow your mind, nor is it well crafted. There are some interesting moments of foreshadowing and a decent mystery element, as well as some moments of truly good prose, but not enough to make this worth it if that’s what you’re looking for in a thriller. 

If you want a fun, twisty thriller with weird characters, confusing storyline pivots, and a reveal so silly it works, then check out The House in the Pines. If you can’t ride with the turns though, I would highly suggest not picking this up because you have to suspend disbelief A LOT to get any enjoyment out of this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

erisouls's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug use, Kidnapping, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

minimicropup's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Ambivalent, worrisome, humble

Narration 🙂: Croaky in parts, especially with male voices, but not too distracting

An adult (late 20s ish) is coming to terms with past trauma and is further triggered by a social media video showing someone die in a similar way to their best friend. 
We are following our MC in their contemporary era, spun out on self-medicating chemies unbeknownst to their partner and family. We also see their POV through flash backs from their senior year of high school and shortly thereafter ~ 7 years ago. 
Set in Berkshire (I think?) Massachusetts, USA and surrounding regions.

Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags 🐺🐕: 
-The transition between past and present wasn't necessarily jarring except for how it occurred so abruptly (even on audio). Based on the characters involved I figured out which era we were in, but maybe chapter/headings for those transitions would be helpful. It was probably easier with audio than text/digitial
-The ending just kinda happens. It's fast, all the Tea is spilled rapidly and feeling rushed, although I can also imagine complaints about this book being too long if it kept the pace (IOW maybe we could have cut down all the withdrawal/family drama bits since they're pretty much the same over time in the present day). 

Cred Rating 😛: Suspended disbelief with plausible moments. Just read it going with the flow and don't overthink. Some of the obvious questions are answered in a way that relies on magical realism  to keep up, but it isn't OTT magical. Hard to say more w/o spoiling it all. 

Mood Reading Match Up: 
-Dark psychological mystery
-Guatemalan family history and experiencing culture from afar
-Unreliable narrator trope with contemporary fiction and mental illness elements
-Coming of age friendship drama

Content Heads-Up: Adult/minor relationship. Self-medicating with alcohol and pills. 

Format: Library Audio via Libby

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Mental illness

dfrancis's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Murder, and Toxic relationship