Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Must Love Books

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Must Love Books by Shauna Robinson

40 reviews

sophiestasyna's review against another edition

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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

3.25

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joanmcoles's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted tense 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

This book was just what I needed to read right now. Nora’s experiences with depression, shame, uncertainty, struggling to be present with friends and loved ones due to mental illness, and feeling stuck in a job that isn’t right for her made me feel seen and understood. This story gave me hope and the sweet and playful romance was a bonus.

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jg34's review

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emotional funny reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

What I thought based on the cover to be a lighthearted romance was actually a really meaningful exploration of living with depression and navigating what feels to be a meaningless life. So incredibly relatable and real. And there was a little romance as a bonus as well which was very lovely. I have no notes!!

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fernwehlaurel's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-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

3.25

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maddiiehall's review against another edition

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would have been so much better if they didn’t pretend this was a romance

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bzliz's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.5

I read this after enjoying Shauna Robinson’s The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks and I wasn’t fully prepared for the ride this time. Maybe I should have looked into it a little more but this errs much more on the side of literary fiction rather than romance.

Nora Hughes has been working at Parson’s Publishing for 5 years and has endured business restructuring that meant her favorite coworkers had been let go and she had to take on enough work for three employees, plus the added humiliation of a pay cut. She’s already been spiraling into depression but it keeps getting worse when she can’t make ends meet and she takes on a part time position at another publishing house, all while a promotion at Parson’s hinges on signing an author she’s somewhat romantically involved with.

Of course you should expect that at some point everything is going to come crashing down but I found myself flipping ahead a few pages so I could adequately prepare myself for the inevitable fallout. Nora made some pretty bad choices but I still found myself rooting for her to get better. It’s really hard to climb out of a depression pit. Beth is a wonderful side character who reminds me a lot of my own version of Beth who was crucial in helping me get back of track. I’m ambivalent about Andrew; he’s written as being incredibly supportive of Nora but I’m not sold on it. He was a little too understanding when he got the full story.

I appreciated the realistic ending and that

Nora didn’t rush into something more serious with Andrew. She needs to work on herself before involving anyone else. Also, I don’t think any real job would let you stay- even if it meant changing your role- once it was known that you had breached conflict of interest.

Content warnings:
Mental illness, thoughts of suicide:

The whole book deals with Nora’s depression which prior to the events of the book had led her to contemplate suicide. On the page, she thinks of those times but does not have ongoing thoughts in that vein and she never makes any plans or attempts. If you are triggered by any discussion of suicide, even glib thoughts, skip this one.

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bookobsessedmommy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I have a bad habit of not rereading a synopsis or checking content warnings before I read a book that's been on my TBR for a while. That said, it's shelved as "funny" and "lighthearted" which is way off base in my opinion. This book has a heavy, melancholy mood, and I wasn't ready. Nora is going through a intense quarter-life crisis, but it's been a long time coming. The majority of this book is in her head, and I really wanted her to get out and get some help. There is a romance subplot, and I appreciate that it stays there

, because Nora is not even close to being ready for a relationship and she knows it

. Prepare yourself for a full depressive spiral that lasts for ~70% of the book. The ending did make me smile, but I would have loved an epilogue.

Content Warnings