Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

11 reviews

genevieve_eggleston's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

This was an extremely intriguing novel. It definitely delves into sensitive subject matter and deals with severe homophobia, so approach it with caution if that’s triggering for you, but it’s also eye opening and inspirational.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Torture, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Physical abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, and Homophobia

Moderate: Misogyny, Self harm, Violence, Deadnaming, Medical content, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Hate crime, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

isco1428's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

1.25

This book felt way too fast paced for its own good. I think the book would have benefited tremendously from another 100-200 pages and a solid editor. The characters were almost a hit for me but we get so little time with the majority of them that they end up falling flat 99% of the time. There is also a very strange attempt at a redemption arc for one character and, in my opinion, it felt superficial. What is motivating and driving these characters? We’re meant to cheer them on purely on principle but what makes their stories any different than others? The characters end up feeling like an amalgamation of tropes with homogenized backgrounds. Overall, the book ends up feeling one note — like darting toward the finish line only to just…stop. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Biphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Ableism

itsbumley's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Physical abuse

eurydice_books_09's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

very good book! I read this because of the Greek mythology references and I’m not disappointed! this book is very deep and emotional though so big trigger warning on that. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Torture, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Blood, Child abuse, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Vomit, Transphobia, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Outing, Mental illness, and Lesbophobia

starship_olympus's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.0

I just grabbed this from the LGBTQ+ section at my library because if there's anything to do with Orpheus and Eurydice in any form of media I'm there for it. 

But the writing style wasn't really for me, and I wasn't invested in the story. I almost DNF but I had a few hours free so I kinda just skimmed the book stopping to read every few pages. 
I can definitely see why this book could be loved by some, if it had been my cup of tea I would've been all over the prose, the characters, their differences and their love. I did want a 'happy' ending (as happy as an ending of this book could be)

and I am glad we got it, with the girls and some kids escaping the camp, and the camp (most likely?) being brought down

but the journey there wasn't for me. 

I know Orpheus is a tragedy, and there was tragedy here. It's not a book for the faint of heart, or an easy read. Even just skimming it I had an emotional reaction to what was going on. I think it could be a wonderful and visceral and beautiful novella. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Outing, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, and Bullying

Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Death, and Death of parent

ryanshmyan's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was enticing because it is short and LGBT. I wanted it to be great but the writing style (stream-of-consciousness) left me confused and wanting more. I’m sure this writing style is appealing to other people but I found it lackluster. The concept was good and you will definitely root for the success of the main characters. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Outing, Suicide attempt, Torture, Transphobia, Homophobia, Car accident, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Self harm

emmazan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Biphobia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual content

toberomanced's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

Haunting, heartbreaking, gorgeous prose

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Cursing, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Body shaming

amandaatkinson06's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

3.25

Beautiful and lyrical, tragic and gut-wrenching, Orpheus Girl is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice seemingly set in the early 2000s.

I thoroughly enjoyed the incorporation of mythology into the primary narrative—the in-universe acknowledgments of parallels felt natural and the structure of the original myth definitely guided the structure of the novel. The characters were not given the greatest level of depth, but because of their mythological counterparts, this did not hinder the overall storytelling or impact. The setting also definitely grounded the story (perhaps because I, like the author, grew up in the early 2000s).

Two characters in this book didn’t quite work for me: Char and Michael. Char is an interesting character in theory: someone who has gone through the conversion therapy camp herself and is seemingly “reformed” but ultimately

decides to help the girls escape

. In practice, however, her character development feels more like a convenient, sometimes inconsistent plot device. It was frustrating to me that Michael, the only trans character in the book, is used solely

to provide a means for the girls to escape.

I did enjoy this book overall (the writing truly was stunning!), but I would strongly advise anyone thinking about reading this novel to check the content warnings. The story has fairly graphic depictions of homophobia, transphobia, torture, and suicide attempts and could be very triggering.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Torture, and Transphobia

Moderate: Deadnaming, Grief, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Car accident

gwas007's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Self harm, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Biphobia, Car accident, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, Deadnaming, Blood, Cursing, and Death