Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake

7 reviews

hazelsnoot's review

emotional hopeful sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death

gurnoor's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pregnancy, Blood, and Bullying

innastholiel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Child death, and Mental illness

Minor: Blood, Bullying, and Pregnancy

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

monarchbooks's review

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

I think this book would work better as teen/young adult instead of middle grade, while books about grief are important for younger people, the fact that the book refused to admit that Hazel attempted su*cide, probably because it was intended for a younger audience, bothered me

Edit: Also, what bothers me most is that Evelyn never apologized for not being there for her daughter. Losing her wife, feeling like she's losing her daughter... is not an excuse for not being there when Hazel clearly needed her. Hazel went to her after the first Ocean Club meeting and Evelyn basically told her that she was tough and to deal with it and that's f*cking bullsh*t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Child death and Suicide attempt

fauna's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

5.0

definitely saving this one for when i have a child so they can read it too 🤍

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Mental illness

amylia's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake completely destroyed me. This book made me cry start to finish. I will forever love all of Ashley Herring Blake’s books, but this is absolutely my favorite.

Hazel Bly is a 12-year-old girl who has been living in various rental homes all around the country with her Mama and little sister Peach. Before the last 2 years they had a wonderful life in a home in California. Then a tragic kayak trip happens,and Hazel is left without a Mum and with a face full of scars and a constantly moving life. They move to a small coastal Maine town, and Hazel’s Mama runs into a childhood friend, Claire, and rekindles their friendship and maybe more. This town is also full of mermaid myths and mysteries. Hazel begrudgingly befriends Lemon, Claire’s daughter, who is secretly hiding her own grief. 

This book was so beautiful. If you believe that MG books are all fluffy and lighthearted and not that deep, I highly recommend you give this book a try and re-frame your ideas about books for young people. This book handles so many tough topics with such grace and composure. It’s messy and ugly and incredible, I finished days ago and still can’t get my thoughts in order. Mermaids, anxiety, queerness, this book just had so many things going on and they were all handled so well.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness