Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

23 reviews

lakeofstars's review

fast-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

3.0

my dad gave me this book like five years ago bc he said he thought of me when he saw it and i think i was so offended bc of the title that i subconsciously put off reading it until now. 

this was an equal-parts frustrating and neat little sci-fi thriller. i didn't put it down once other than to solve the time dilation problem! 


misc thoughts/critiques:
- the first half was very tell>show, but this improved as time went on
- i wish we had more time with romy before the eternity, to connect with her and better understand her loneliness and subsequent excitement
- the fanfics were so short! i know that if they were longer it wouldve impeded on the story, but... a sixteen y.o. w nothing better to do writing half pages? 
- i rlly dont like the juvenile writing style most YA books have... felt like it took away from the story, and made the graphic scenes really jarring (and not in a good way)
- loved the portrayal of mental illness. that is what really made me understand romy's character.

[SPOILER-ISH]
- personally i found every twist Very predictable

and was quite frustrated with romy's naivete, but i understand that... of course she is? she doesn't have the same human experiences with selfishness and poor motives as the rest of us. but also. as someone w paranoia. I wouldve checked those files' physical source Before downloading.

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let's be honest, no way is NASA hiring that guy.

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i felt so happy for romy at the end.

super satisfying ending, but again i wish we had a bit More!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Confinement

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual content

kayshamarie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Blood

kryskross's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Mental illness, and Death of parent

moll_blue's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

Good to read but a lot of the book is just about how miserable she is and after a few chapters of that, it needs to move on

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

lucielvalience034's review against another edition

sad tense fast-paced

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

1.25

This book made me question my life and I would like to do a brain cleansing because of what I had to endure. I do not recommend this book to anyone unless you love tormenting yourself. XXX

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, Child abuse, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion

he's not 24 ew someone help this literal child

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Grief

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Gore, Blood, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Stalking

Minor: Colonisation, Cursing, Abortion, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Alcohol

koboldskind's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness

lahnidelrey's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

laurenevlyn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Wow! This book is awesome and I read it in just one sitting. <The horrifying transition from a (slightly creepy) romance to a full on psychological thriller was, though quite sudden, very well done. > I felt such intense loneliness hearing Romy describe her life and her future. It was very immersive. Great book and brilliant concept!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Torture, Mental illness, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic friendship, War, Abortion, Toxic relationship, and Grief

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.25

This novel really reminds me of the Girl In Space podcast in that it starts with a girl alone in the universe, the last alive aboard a ship in the far reaches of space and gets further and further twisted into a horrific nightmare scenario.

Romy breaking down J's messages and software, the Infinity's med bay, and going through his room aboard the Eternity to find the scratching sound he imbedded into her ship's sound system, the computer system bugs, the quotes from her fanfictions, his parents' pods, her mother's pods, his notes on her, and his forged emails to earth was a well written undoing of her unravelling. It just felt like the book ended too quickly. I wanted Molly feedback. Romy's letter intro to her fanfiction was cute, but the part of me that's been reading adult fantasy and sci fi for the past few years wants information about changes to the NASA internal review process and how they'd change contact protocols to make sure emails that they're receiving are coming from the right people. 

It was a good, unexpected, and quick read, though I did almost put down the book forever after the first fanfiction section. They did eventually get more accurate to common fanfiction tropes and the way that fanfiction is normally paced, but all of the fanfiction sections were incredibly short in a way that doesn't reflect the reality of most fanfiction. I guess I am kind of glad that the fanfiction sections were short though because had the first one been longer, I most likely would have put the book down for good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Stalking, Gore, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War and Abortion

Minor: Self harm and Adult/minor relationship