Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis

12 reviews

booksmellz's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Trigger Warnings: Depictions of suicide and suicidal ideation

Neely has been battling her hidden monsters, the disembodied voices that shadow her every move, since she was little. Lately though, they’ve become louder and more mobile.

To try and get some peace from them, Neey takes a job as a tour guide in the one place her monsters can’t follow - the caverns. There she meets Mila. Mila is everything Neely isn’t - beautiful and confident. As the two become closer, Neely’s crush grows. When a staff afterparty exposes Neely to drugs, she follows Mila’s lead, but that causes her hallucinations to escalate.

The next work day, Mila’s body is found brutally murdered in the caverns and Mila’s memories of the party are super fuzzy. With her hidden monsters not so hidden anymore, Mila must figure out who kills Mila… and face the possibility it may have been her.

So I actually went into this book pretty much blind. I started Under This Red Rock as an audiobook without looking into what it’s about and I ended up really enjoying it. The suspension mixed in with Neely’s mental health struggles and not knowing what was real and what wasn’t made it interesting to me. Though I would get slightly annoyed with Neely when she would straight up lie about something that she absolutely knew was real - don’t make life harder for yourself!

Overall, I think this would be a fantastic read for those who like suspense and thrillers mixed with some mystery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

cozycoffeereader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Animal death

karen_pants's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

So, this may not have been the best book to read when my mental health was rough - but I'm grateful for all the TW. 

I've been looking for a book this year that would make me cry and this did. It was powerful, emotional and I was in the edge of my seat with pins and needles at points.

I didn't cry from sadness btw or anger...these were stress tears. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

cboddie's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

HS & up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

sharpiemyshoe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

clem_s's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexual harassment

blake4's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

daphnea's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

This book is not for the faint of heart. There's mental illness and murder. McGinnis writes an empathetic portrayal of a main character, named Neeley, who has auditory hallucinations and is grieving the death of her mom and brother and the abandonment of her father. Neeley starts a summer job as a tour guide at a cave, and notices that her auditory hallucinations don't follow her underground while she's in the cave. When Neeley's crush Mila (who is also her coworker) ends up dead, she tries to figure out what happened to Mila with the help of a hallucination of a deceased local cave adventurer named Margaret.

This book is very dark, and I would not recommend this book to squeamish readers because of its detailed descriptions of suicide, torture and death. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Animal death

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Mindy McGinnis never shies away from the dark, and that's definitely true in this book. Neely has auditory halucinations throughout the story, and often questions her reality. It makes for a good narrator in a mystery/thriller, honestly. Leaves you questioning what really happened.

So far in 2024, it feels like there has been more variety in mental illness rep in YA and I am here for it. This isn't an easy book to read by far, but definitely worth it. And there's a plot twist towards the end that will make you see the entire rest of the book in a totally different light.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Rape

reading_renebow's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis