Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith

9 reviews

amiegold's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I was sure I was going to rate this book lower, but in the last 25% of the book, the author expertly weaved all of the missing pieces to tell a story of colonization, the objectification of woman's bodies and revenge.  And it's all told in the form of a ghost story.  

While I loved the ending, I was restless along the way with the sometimes nauseating and frustrating characters and plot lines.  If you enjoy deep symbolism and dark themes, this may be a good book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual assault, Excrement, Alcohol, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Colonisation, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Cursing

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, and Gore

porporina's review

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcohol, Abandonment, Body horror, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexism

nialiversuch's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Excrement, Blood, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexism, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Body horror, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Rape, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, and Incest

radfordmanor's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

savvylit's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

Build Your House Around My Body is a masterful blend of historical fiction and magical realism. Each paranormal element in the book is a visual representation of the ripple effects of the trauma of colonialism and violence. Kupersmith's use of magical realism is done to devastating effect and I certainly won't forget any of her monsters any time soon.

As a whole, this book is a fascinating glimpse into Vietnam, both past and present. Some of the most interesting portions of the book were Winnie's observations of modern ex-pat culture in Saigon. It was no surprise to learn that Kupersmith herself was also an ESL teacher like Winnie. Kupersmith's intimacy with specific stereotypical ex-pats shines through in her written caricatures of Winnie's coworkers.

Ultimately, my only criticisms of this novel would be its length (400 pages) and organization. The timeline jumps so often that it disrupts the flow of the greater story. There are also several characters that readers only briefly get to know. I think that their portions could have been cut back or woven into another character's perspective to keep the book at a more manageable length.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Murder, Classism, War, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Misogyny, Body horror, and Xenophobia

kyahs's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

2.5

I finished it as I was curious enough about what was going on. Although, I wanted it to end and the end did not meet my expectations. The book takes you through many characters interlinked lives, there is something missing in it for me and I did find it hard to follow. Now I've finished, if I started again it would probably all make sense but I do not want to do that.

Some great insight into Vietnamese food, culture and history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

Moderate: Rape

Minor: War, Death, and Violence

tamara_joy's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Racism, and Rape

jmcampbell57's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Mental illness, Drug use, Body horror, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Minor: Blood and Alcoholism

jomannisto's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

If you’re the type who NEEDS likeable protagonists, this is probably not the book for you. Others have said it is satirical/dryly funny, while I found it unrelentingly pessimistic to the point where I put it down for a week to recover from the characters whinging about their self hatred. I did however, enjoy the mystery/ghost/fantasy elements. I wish the interaction in the final chapters

between Winnie and Be Li

was a little longer since that was the thing that really helped to recover the pace. The writing is really vivid when it comes to conjuring settings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Confinement

Moderate: Vomit, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Drug use