Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

15 reviews

gurofl's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

I generally liked this book while listening to it, but was a bit frustrated with it around the middle. There were sections where I felt the characters thought or acted for the sole purpose of advancing the plot in a certain direction, which for me makes characters two-dimensional and less believable. (I also don't like villains who are pure evil. I like them to be more interesting). What was supposed to be the big reveal in the middle of the book, was pretty obvious, so the mystery of it bored me, but after we got that out of the way, I really liked getting to know the characters and their interactions better. 
So I at first thought this was an ok read, but I find that I've been thinking about this book and especially the main character a lot after finishing it, and that I like it better now than I did immediately after finishing it. In the middle I thought this would be a 3🌟 read, but I now thinks it's a solid 4🌟. 
(Loads of content warnings for this book! It's not an easy read.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Classism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Racism, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

heather_freshparchment's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book was slow to open but the middle and ending flew past. It's certainly far from a happy ending, but such were the lives of most medieval women, which this book focused on. I loved the breadth and variety of characters that Hargrave focused on, as well as the fact that she didn't try to speculate as to what had caused the dancing plague (at least, not from a medical standpoint). It is dark and definitely a frustrating, triggering read, but it is also a gripping read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Islamophobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury

aniqah_w's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Mental illness, and Death of parent

thealienamongus's review against another edition

dark emotional 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: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexism, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

lou_o_donnell's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Hate crime, Grief, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Animal death, Murder, Outing, Lesbophobia, Death of parent, Drug use, Miscarriage, Child death, Body horror, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Domestic abuse