Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Dinner by Herman Koch

33 reviews

issymaae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Classism, Racism, and Mental illness

lisettela's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Classism

j_schley's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book will leave you feeling profoundly unsettled and very disturbed. Yet, it was almost impossible for me to put down. There’s a pervasive and thick feeling of unease from the first page, and any opinions you form of characters or situations will not hold true by the novel’s conclusion. 

If you enjoy unreliable narrators, moral ambiguity, and questions of ethics, this is absolutely a story you’ll want to pick up. It’s grimy and gritty and dark but provokes many questions about the mercurial nature of human morality and the tenuous bonds of dysfunctional families.

I also don’t advise reading this book while eating, despite its innocuous title. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Gore, Blood, Racism, Rape, Classism, and Racial slurs

inhaledmocha's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

What a wild ride. I never expected anything that happened in this book. Fantastic read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Violence, Racism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Xenophobia and Classism

sylvestra's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Murder

Moderate: Violence and Medical content

meshuganush's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The way that this book was organized was very cool. The narrator goes back and forth between the dinner and his past in a way that is very easy to follow and moves the story along. The tension at the table was so well done! 

I would say none of the characters are likeable and I didn't root for any of them but I was still enthralled and had to know what happened!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Classism, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Misogyny and Antisemitism

lisapparition's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, and Miscarriage

imandubose's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Hate crime

megwhitlock's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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? Yes

4.0

The characters being so unlikeable and the story being so beyond belief reprehensible is what made this book so good. Hard disagree with those who say you have to identify with the characters or enjoy the plot to love a book. Great dark comedy

(plus an unreliable narrator is always a bonus

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Classism, and Racism

c_alma_d's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Murder, Bullying, Classism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship