Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

83 reviews

meat_muffin's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Ableism

Minor: Classism, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment

mdavis26's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Grief

lleland's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Classism

Moderate: Grief, Death, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcohol

anjasshelf's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Abandonment, Medical content, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

alizirrah's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

Funny, sweet, sexy, heartwarming - this book was a delight. I went into it knowing it had been very popular in the contemporary romance genre and not much else, and was pleasantly surprised to find one of my favorite reads of the year.

It really took off for me about 30% in (that's been a theme this year - taking about a month to read the first 30-40% of a book until it grabs me, and then devouring the rest in a few days.) The banter gets SO good and the chemistry crackles. Love the represention here with the disabled/chronically ill POC main character, the interracial/class differences in the romantic relationship, fat-positivity and more. There is discussion of chronic illness, abusive/manipulative past relationships, abandonment, burn out, mental health/therapy... this book has a lot of depth! 

It's also just a really beautiful love story, demonstrating how paying attention and sharing the load can make such a difference. Red is one of the sweetest and kindest men I've encountered in fiction in a long time, truly a pleasure to read. And Chloe is so incredibly sympathetic, clever and lovely as well. Looking forward to reading the other books in the series featuring her sisters!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Car accident and Mental illness

marinaxanna's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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

3.5

I really liked the diversity and inclusivity. Reading about Chloe’s journey was lovely—to see her step out of her comfort zone and push through her limitations in a healthy, self aware way. And I adored Red’s aspects in the last chapters, too. Seeing him overcome past trauma and triggers and improving himself for him was inspiring and relatable. Seeing such important topics come together in a novel like this was great.

My downside is the timing;

we didn’t dive into Red’s full “how” and “why” until the ending. I feel like repercussions of an abusive relationship deffo would’ve shown sooner. Kinda missed the opportunity there to give more depth to his personality and history. The whole book I was like, “ok so what actually happened?”. Having that climax at the end and then having it solved so quickly didn’t feel very rewarding, emotionally speaking. Had this conflict happened sooner (and more dragged out maybe?) it could’ve served more plot.

I also felt like they were “all in” quite quickly. We go from enemies(?) to lovers in the blink of an eye. Some of the phrasing was quite extreme which made it a little unrealistic, which is a shame. I also think some of the excessive smut could have been space for more actual, conversational bonding, but I can see how that would be opposing Chloe’s “uncomplicated” rule.

Generally I enjoyed this. Some parts were less good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Sexual content

lasunflower's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Ableism, and Domestic abuse

tragedies's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

Reading this felt like watching my favorite romcom film. It's sweet, funny, and incredibly heartwarming. There's so much emotional pining that you just want to pull the characters together and make them kiss as if they were dolls, a lot of hilarious scenes that you can't help but laugh at (I lost it when Chloe tried to save that damn cat; I legitimately couldn't stop cackling, my mom thought I was going crazy), and a ton of achingly vulnerable moments that just make you want to wrap the characters in a warm, cozy blanket and protect them from this cold, cruel world. Though I finished the book a while back, it still lives in my mind rent free, and needless to say, I will not shut up about it for the foreseeable future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Abandonment, Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness

katybradley888's review against another edition

funny inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

Moderate: Classism, Sexual content, and Car accident

Minor: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Cursing, and Ableism

feliciavanleeuwen's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

5.0

After finishing this book I wrote a thank/love letter to the writer on twitter. Here is it;
Dear @TaliaHibbert, in the last years I dreaded reading but I've never cried, laughed, blushed and been aroused as much as by Chloe & Red's story. At times I couldn't believe I wasn't reading my own thoughts. As painfull as that was, it was amazing too.
Somehow I thought it was a good idea to start reading the book on a family vacation. The times I had to explain my laughing and crying were answered with happiness. The times I had to put down the book, look at my friend and say "this is to spicy to read here": uncountable.
It was the first time reading my symptoms like this, the things I go though on the daily, yet they weren't mine. Some moments it was scary how much Chloe's fibro and mine are alike, not only the physical but also the mental & social implications.
We differ in the fact that my ADHD makes me do a tad bit to much spontaneous things nowadays. Whoever put an adhd brain in a chronically fatigued body is definitely a fan of torture. Still, the ever protecting part of my brain is there. Like Chloe's.
And all these tweets don't even cover, can't even cover, how much I love the little lines about Red loving Chloe's belly. Or how Red, in his looks & wit, is exactly my type. And how some scenes are written inspire me to continue my own writing.*
You might not even read all of this, as your account is an updates account, yet I just have to write. Thank you for this book. Thank you for the characters. The only thing I'm sad about is that I'll never be able to read for the first time again.
Oh and that I'm allergic to most if not all cats. I miss my cat at my parents and want my own smudge. Though I prefer not to rescue them from tree. I'm sure I'll find my Red(s), he/she/they, one day. Sadly my building doesn't have a superintendent. Love, Felicia

*on twitter I didn't specify which scenes but here I will say it were the more spicy ones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Medical content, Mental illness, and Classism

Minor: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Spoilers, not to many details

The book is about Chloe, a black plus size woman with fibromyalgia, who has been abandoned by people in the past because of here illness. She meets Red, a man that is dealing with the aftermath of being in an abusive relationship, who is/was an artist but now is the superintendent of her building. It's a bit of a haters to lovers Trope but not in a way you'd expect.

At times the book was hard to read as it was the first time I saw my exact symptoms reflected in someone else, a fictional character that isn't the comedic relief but is the love interest and seen as attractive. It confronted me, I cried and laughed and was aroused. It was beautiful.