Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Even Greater Mistakes: Stories by Charlie Jane Anders

6 reviews

valjeanval's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I've been 50/50 on CJA's novels, but I really think she excels at the short story. The range demonstrated in this one collection stretches from whimsically cheerful to violent absurdist to scathing speculation and dark realities. "Captain Roger in Heaven" and "Power Couple" are probably the standouts that were new to me in this collection. I think the only one I really didn't care for was "Fairy Werewolf vs. Zombie Vampire" which just tipped my whimsy scale over the edge. The only other slightly disappointing factor was that I already owned other collections featuring these stories, but it was still a nice excuse to reread them. I think I could read "As Good as New" any number of times and still appreciate it. 

The book jacket to this edition calls her "This generation's LeGuin," but I think that's not entirely fair. Yes there's a heavy dose of social commentary and speculation, but CJA's style is distinctively her own and is deeply rooted in this generation here and now

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Confinement, Murder, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Child abuse, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Mental illness

tero's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism, Transphobia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Islamophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Homophobia

Note: content warnings are for things mentioned or subjects tackled by the stories. Content warnings for individual stories are included in the book.

indeedithappens's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Body horror, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Drug use, Toxic friendship, War, Grief, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Classism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Cursing, Bullying, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Xenophobia

galexy_brain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-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: Transphobia, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, War, Mental illness, Dementia, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Torture, Suicide, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Islamophobia, Fatphobia, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

anyepagan's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Mental illness

deedireads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Even Greater Mistakes is a wide-reaching collection of stories that will have something for everyone. Anders is just so good at cutting to the heart of our humanity with bravery and compassion.

For you if: You like short stories with speculative elements.

FULL REVIEW:

Thank you, Tor, for providing me with an electronic advanced copy of this book! I am a big fan of Charlie Jane Anders, as a person and as a writer, and I jumped at the chance to read her first official story collection.

As you might expect from a prolific SFF writer who hasn’t published a story collection before (what?), this book is absolutely packed — truly, there’s something for everyone here. Perhaps my favorite was “Six Months, Three Days,” in which a girl who sees many futures and a boy who sees one future fall in love, despite knowing it won’t end well. It raised so many questions about free will. There are also follow-up stories to Anders’ novels The City in the Middle of the Night and All the Birds in the Sky (which is one I especially loved). She also gives introductions and background on each story, which added an extra touch I really appreciated.

Anders cuts to the heart and humanity with clear-eyed compassion. These stories are not always comfortable (see trigger warnings), but the discomfort is always purposeful. She explores themes of transness and queerness, choice and identity, love and friendship, and so much more. I didn’t love every single story in this book, but I loved many and liked the rest.

If you’re a fan of speculative fiction, pick this one up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Dementia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Addiction, and Alcoholism