Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

ההיסטוריה הסודית by Donna Tartt

483 reviews

that_hijabi_reader's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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i finished this last night and was debating whether i should burn this book or leave it for others to suffer from

i cant even give this a rating cause i dont know if i love it or hate it

this was the journey of all journeys, i laughed (a little as it was morbid af), looked up hard words and last of all...............CRIED

A LOT

LIKE THOSE LAST 25 PAGES LEFT ME IN SHAMBLES................. SHAMBLES

i loved henry at the start (first half) of the book, but as it wen on, all the characters (especially him) started to become so....horrible. so i hated him by page 604. i somehow knew that he wasnt going to make it as i read a spoiler (not really) which was like "its so sad that henry wont see his roses bloom" so i was like "hes either going to go to jail or get killed" but ohhh how much worse it was. I DIED LIKE LITERALLY DIED reading his suicide, im sorry, but this is a very touchy topic for me and i couldnt handle it

no matter how much i hated these characters, i was reading about them for a week, 600 pgs so i did form a connection even if it was negative so it killed me to read that, noone should have to go that way.......and what made it worse was when he kissed camilla and told her "i love you" then shot himself...in front of her and everyone. and when in the epilogue richard told camilla he loved her and proposed to her and she said "i cant, i love henry"....god that did wonders to my mentality

 
listen, if you want to read this...........please please please look up trigger warnings

i was very uncomfortable with some things that were mentioned

nvm ill just mention some here:

incest (when i read that i was thinking of not even finishing it cause that's how uncomfortable it made me), suicide, domestic abuse, self harm, homophobia, suicide attempt, murder, alchoholism (lots of it unfortunantly), drug abuse, addiction, death, toxic friendship, blood, racism, gun violence

i honestly dont know whether this is my favourite book of all time or the worst book ive ever read but know if i recommend this to you then youre either my worst enemy and i want you to suffer or i love you a lot and i want you to suffer

i KNOW that i wont stop thinking about this book, its always in there (im talking about the pain btw) at the back of my mind haunting me

im so conflicted cause i have no idea how im feeling ughhh

but what i do know is that this was disatrous, morbid, depressing,and painful so read know youre in for that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Deadnaming, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content

reading_ani's review against another edition

2.5

dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness

missemilyn's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Moderate: Incest

mollymhope's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I’m honestly quite confused how to rate this book and if your planning on taking time to read a review as you debate reading this I suggest you read this one. This book is not an easy read. It took me a while to read it and has left me in a slump that I do not see a way out of. Do not confuse this with me disliking book. I like this book and think Tart is a brilliant author. Just be prepared to have to pause and reread certain things, google words, put the book down and pace a bit, and get incredibly frustrated from the point of view that we receive this book from. The ending is deeply unsatisfying but I think if it was any more satisfying it would have ruined the mysterious air the rest of the book was written. What I’m trying to say is this book will leave you slightly confused and frustrated however I highly encourage you to read it if only so I don’t have to suffer alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death

kenzie26's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

zaira_ra's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship

Minor: Mental illness

bellamuerte_'s review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Incest, Suicide, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Rape

mellowreading's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book became a 5 star for me only at its very end, around the last 50-70 pages but was still very good. I liked a lot of the tropes used and overall vibes. I worried it wouldn’t be suspenseful with the murder and perpetrators being revealed in the prologue, but there were many scenes after the murder took place that had my heart racing. Very fun and emotionally challenging read. I think Francis was the only character I didn’t have a love/hate relationship with.

The scene in Julians office had my blood pumping, I was saying “oh god, oh god” out loud. That scene alone alongisde the drastic exposition of what kinds of people the characters truly are elevated the book from a 4.75 to a 5 for me. Donna does such a good job of creating tension and introducing information in such a way that it jars you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Eating disorder, Rape

driedflowers's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This book is definitely not for everyone. Most of the people I've talked to have rated it below a 3, so it may be surprising that I rated it a solid 5, something that I don't tend to do often. I can't even begin to describe what this novel encapsulates; it's virtually impossible. However, the reason why I have rated it so high is because I loved quite literally everything that this book gave. The setting, the characters (antagonists disguised as protagonists), the slow moved plot, and most importantly, THE WRITING. Donna Tartt is a force to be reckoned with, and her writing is above anything else I have read so far. But please, please, please read the content warnings.. there are a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail

heelleen's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Antisemitism