Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Christiane F: Autobiography of a Girl of the Streets and Heroin Addict by Kai Hermann, Christiane F., Horst Rieck

9 reviews

rotten_flesh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Child death, Child abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

franzi_ela's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

This is not a book that one could actually "like" because it's really depressing to read. But it is an important and interesting portrait of 70's Berlin drug scene. Many german teens were required to read this in school when it came out to make them understand about drug abuse. It would be interesting to know how many of them actively decided to never try drugs after the lecture of this book or after seeing the movie. (Quite a lot I guess, both the book and the movie are VERY graphic about the horrors of drug withdrawal) Also there was a new Amazon Prime Series not too long ago, but it wasn't THAT graphic. It's really authentic and you just have to care about the characters.
The saddest thing is that - although this depicts a situation about 50 years ago - many things haven't changed. It is still difficult to get people into drug therapy, still parents aren't watchful enough, still the school system is overwhelmed with difficult children, still drug dealers are taking advantage of teens who don't know the risks of certain drugs or who want to make "quick money" by selling drugs.
I could go on.
The only way to raise awareness is through books like this. So: Highly recommended, but be aware that it's not a fun read, also take a look at the content warnings!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

Moderate: Cursing, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Grief, Mental illness, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pedophilia, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

who_is_sisi's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Incredibly brutal, open, and (at least seemingly) honest depiction of the very dark reality of barely-teenage drug addicts. This one gave me nightmares. An important historical document that transformed the discourse in (West) Germany, has shaped a generation, and put the discussion about drug addiction front and center of German society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, Blood, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Torture, Rape, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Addiction, Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Child death, Physical abuse, Infidelity, and Homophobia

therukat's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Racism, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Child death, Death, and Forced institutionalization

e_hng's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism

tailor's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

wannabeninazenik's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

aehist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Sexual violence

cripplinghappiness's review

dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, and Domestic abuse