Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

6 reviews

_serena_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

Every time I thought this book couldn’t get any crazier it proved me wrong!

I really liked the art and musical descriptions through this book. Music was such an integral part of our narrator’s life, it’s only right that it continues to follow her. As someone who also uses music as an escape and a passion, it was very relatable. 

This isn’t traditional horror - it’s very much body horror. Body modification, medical experimentation, unethical human trials. 

If you want something not too long, a little wacky, a little creepy and very intriguing I think you’ll enjoy this. I would check out the content warnings before diving in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Car accident, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, Mental illness, and Bullying

isisf's review

dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug use, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Body horror, and Grief

charmgirl3's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

One of the best and most disturbing horror books I've read in a while. The graphic nature of some scenes, combined with the realistic nature of the beauty world and where it's headed made for an interesting reading experience. Not for the faint of heart or those who dislike body modification.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Grief, Drug use, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Sexual content

rainbowarpaint's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Torture, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Body horror, Mental illness, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Cannibalism

ashp's review

challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

This book is if the film “Whiplash” was set in a holistic clean beauty space. The story is jarring and unnerving. An excellent tone of social commentary. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Body horror, Death, and Eating disorder

mrsboomreads's review

4.0

This book was genre defying, though horror and a probably most accurate. The writing was tight and smart, with an interesting examination of the lengths individuals will take to defy aging. 

That being said, horror is not my genre and some of the events and descriptions were…horrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Confinement, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Death of parent