Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

8 reviews

balconyblackbird's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Death of parent

valjeanval's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Emily St. John Mandel has a gift for writing about liminal spaces. The spaces between countries, time period, social classes, families, strangers. She creates such a web of deep, complicated, flawed characters and takes you on a time-bending journey through their lives. I hadn't read this before I listened to Sea of Tranquility which is really a continuation and honing of the skills (and several characters) she already had nearly mastered in this novel. While there are elements of magical realism and ghost stories, it's not one of her truly speculative works like SoT or Station Eleven, but it is absolutely worth the read if you enjoyed her writing in those books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I had no idea this was connected to Sea of Tranquility, which I listened to last year, so it was neat to return to Vincent’s story.

Like her other works, Emily St John Mandel’s writing is lyrical and hypnotic, but unfortunately this could have used some editing, especially when dealing with the players involved in the Ponzi scheme.

I don’t regret reading it, but it could have been better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Confinement

Minor: Domestic abuse

innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad 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

3.75

I enjoyed Sea of Tranquility more but I’m still glad I read this one. It was interesting to get more of the back story for some of the characters in SoT, even though I didn’t particularly like any of them very much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Grief, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Classism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

kcarney86's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug abuse, Dementia, and Addiction

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

prettiestwhistles's review against another edition

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Cancer, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Sexual content

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

emily writes in this really unique way that makes for such an interesting read. she interwinnes all these different stories/characters in such a seamless way. i really liked the plot, i have never read anything about a ponzi scheme. 


my only real issue was the incorrect use of mental illness - you don't OCD if you want to film in 5 minute increments...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Drug use

pollyflorence's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I finished The Glass Hotel this morning—and while the subject matter (Ponzi schemes, the financial crisis of 2008, container shipping...) might not be the kind of thing I usually look for in a novel— Emily St. John Mandel creates such a vivid world and has a way of storytelling and weaving together various threads of a story that it made me feel invested in this story and the things the various characters experience. In many ways it’s a story of loss and grief and betrayal and looks at how we respond to these things. 

I just adore how Mandel crafts her novels and reveals the story bit by bit in a way which makes the ending so satisfying and makes you want to start the book from the beginning again. I felt the exact same way about her previous novel— Station Eleven.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide