Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Le Dieu des Bois by Liz Moore

238 reviews

hdunscombe's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Blood, Stalking, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts

sassthathoopy's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Infidelity, Forced institutionalization

Minor: Body shaming, Homophobia, Lesbophobia

emily_george's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

katerina_l's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

lindsayerin's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization

Minor: Drug abuse

avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

---

I would have rated this book higher if it hadn't been for the ending!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Homophobia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Incest

nataleaf's review against another edition

3.0

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

---

it may be time for me to stop trying to read mysteries idk

it was a perfectly fine book, but i never feel satisfied after reading mystery/thrillers 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Drug use, Forced institutionalization

faithtrustpixiedust's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

The God of the Woods was a disappointment. While it had me gripped at many junctions, with many possible avenues all equally fascinating to explore, the actual resolution was less than satisfactory. Maybe I’m just a bit of a cynic, but I found the ending (with Barbara living alone on an island) kind of stupid. I also really didn’t like that all of the little threads were tied up—I wouldn’t have lost any sleep over Scary Mary. Ultimately, the book, while interesting, was a bit of a flop. I’ve thought, in the few days since finishing it, more about how I wish it had been better than about the things I’d originally liked about it—the spooky New England setting, the impact of class divisions, Alice. Everything good was forgotten in just how mediocre it all ended up. Perhaps if there had been fewer characters, I would have enjoyed it more. The sheer number of irrelevant backstories weighed down the narrative.

Despite my love of (tasteful) true crime and obsession with all things gothic or otherwise mysterious, I’m starting to think that I just don’t like mysteries—or to be more accurate, mystery-thrillers. Or to be even more accurate, I don’t like popular mystery-thrillers. Or some unpopular ones. Or I’m just very picky, as it turns out. This book reminded me of a terrible amalgamation of many of the other books I’ve read of a similar genre: namely, Little Darlings by Melanie Golding (hated this one), Black Chuck by Regan McDonell (really liked this one), Penpal by Dathan Auerbach (meh), Sadie by Courtney Summers (it was good!), Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (I love this book!), and A Divided Mind by M. Billiter (haven’t been bothered to finish it for almost 3 years now).

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore felt like it had the setting of Penpal with some Sadie thrown in for good measure, maybe a hint of Black Chuck, populated with some Sadie and Black Chuck teenagers and A Divided Mind and Little Darlings adults. The conclusion—down to a swim in a large body of water—felt like war flashbacks from Little Darlings. By the end, I felt like I’d already read it before, in better (and infinitely worse) versions. While the latter 20thcentury setting was unique in comparison to all of these, it was hardly relevant to the actual plot, other than the presence of a prison escapee (very 1970s of Moore). It lacked the distinctive features of the mysteries I have liked, like the eeriness and uncertainty of Alias Grace.

From reading this book, I have realized that, while it is good to stick to genre conventions for marketing purposes, they should not be included at the expense of the narrative. What made Alias Grace so amazing to me wasn’t its vintage setting, nonlinear timeline, or unconventional female protagonists—it was the depth of the small cast of characters, the little mysteries that were never resolved, the unmatched beauty of the prose, and the tight plot—all things that The God of the Woods lacked.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Terminal illness

luciezee's review against another edition

4.5

mysterious reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy

chelseaisreading's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

A gripping mystery and truly had me guessing until the end. There are quite a few time switches and characters with many names to remember, but I enjoyed it. Not necessarily a quick read, but worth it.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief