Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Suicide Med by Freida McFadden

5 reviews

amacat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Adult/minor relationship

nyquillll's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Wow - I ended up reading this book all in one go as a result of a long travel day. Honestly, my head is still swirling a bit in the aftermath of finishing it...not sure if in a good or bad way necessarily. 

Things I liked: 

• The way the book was chunked and how each POV went back to the same starting point to add more and more context. I will admit, this did slow down the plot of the book for me, but I don't think Freida made things too redundant. She just kept revealing more and more of the inner dialogue of each character and making things more complex. 
• The way Matt was, for the most part..., a professor who really cared about his job, his students, and wanted to be a good teacher.
• The complexity of the characters and the exploration of morality, intent vs. impact, "by any means necessary" mentality, first impressions and real personalities, and how cutthroat med school can be.
• Mason's portrayal of his
  descent into madness
  and his connection with
  Ginny
  , though she really rubbed me the wrong way.
• Discussion and some representation of a disabled character (we learn how they became that way later in the story).

Things I didn't like as much:

• The, at times, slightly fatphobic comments, descriptions, or thoughts around weight gain and being of a bigger size. 
• Instead of a fast-paced psychological thriller, this felt more like a mystery that isn't solved until the very end, but in kind of an anticlimactic way - and by the time everything was revealed, we kind of already knew what happened because it had been alluded to in the other POVs. 
• I am not a fan at all of
  student-professor relationships
  , and was really surprised that this book talked about it, and covered it in a lot of detail. I could have done without. Though it was a bit better by the fact that the characters were in grad school, but still...It makes me feel icky. 
• Abe's storyline took up a whole bunch - and when I was reading it, I was really confused and wasn't sure if Freida was trying to add
  a fantastical element??
  to the story? But even after it all goes down, it kind of just poof disappears and there wasn't much resolution.
• The very last chapter, where it fast-forwards, I feel like Freida was trying to add a twist ending, but it kind of fell flat for me...Though it did answer a few questions about Abe and Heather. 
• The whole backstory of
  Frank
  wasn't super explained? I guess the
  tattoo
  wasn't important.
• The vicious way the characters treated one another to get ahead - the way they would talk about one another, at least in the inner monologues. (I'm not cut out to be someone like this, so I have a pretty visceral reaction)

I think overall, while I was invested in finishing the book, the way the plot resolved itself didn't have as much of a payoff as I would've liked.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, and Suicide

Some quotes I highlighted:

"Yes. I am a vegan." "Is that like a vegetarian?" "No, it's some weird religious thing."

"It's a warning to other roaches...So they know what will happen to them if they come in here."

"The cook did a great job."

"But is an eye really an eye if there is no brain to perceive its vision?"

"vanishing twin syndrome" ... "Craniopagus parasiticus, otherwise known as a parasitic twin"

"But mostly I'm saying it for my dead students. For all of them. I can't help but feel that somehow it's all my fault. And if anyone is listening, I want them to know: I'm sorry."

zemily83's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Medical content

Moderate: Gun violence

oproy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I work in medicine so the medical side of this all seemed a bit too weird. But the story was interesting, I liked the different viewpoints and how everything came together in the end. I felt the dialogue seemed a little too forced or even fake at times. No one actually talks like that…but overall enjoyed the book. A good, easy-to-read vacation book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

jspillane's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

1.0

What did I just read? I couldn’t wait for this book to be over. It was incredibly unrealistic at times (eye? Really ) and then the fact that some one almost SAd someone and then managed to still become a surgeon. I did not enjoy this book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual assault, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Rape, Suicide, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexism, Drug abuse, and Mental illness