Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

133 reviews

casira's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

ariana3's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I just don't think I was really in the mood for this book. And it felt soooooo long for no reason. About a family and the complicated dynamics within.

4 sisters, who practically are attached at the hip, sort of drift apart in adulthood, after their father dies and their brother-in-law tries to commit suicide (who then divorces one sister then another sister falls in love with him and they get married).

What love, loss, guilt, and grudges can do to an entire family and their community. Good, just not my vibe right now. And just felt so so so long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Grief

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

juliee181's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment

tayloramazing's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

keats1787's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

ocbyrd3's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

kmmstutz's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Hello emotionally devastating book. 
Personally haven’t read little women in about 10 years but I wholeheartedly believe this is 20th century little women 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

selam's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

knkoch's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This was an interesting character study influenced by, but not over-reliant on, Little Women. I love messy emotional human dramas, and this definitely delivered on that. It's centered around four narratives: Eldest sister (of four) Julia, second sister Sylvie, Julia's partner William, and their daughter. Surprisingly, that means the two youngest sisters, Cecilia and Emeline, feel a bit distant since we never experience the narrative through them. But while I missed that, I think for this story, those four characters as narrative leads makes sense. Even though this is a novel primarily interested in and focused on the four strong sisters at its core, I actually found William's passages most compelling. He comes from such a different family than the one he marries into, and his story felt realest to me. The midpoint climax that happens in his narrative was when the novel clicked for me, really; it felt so incredibly authentic and rooted in his upbringing and particular psychology. Julia's path also made a ton of sense to me, and I was invested throughout in seeing this story to its conclusion. 

This wasn't a light read, warm, or cozy, as the cover or title may imply. There's beauty there, but it's hard-won, and I don't envy the lives these characters must lead to eventually grasp it. I'm having a hard time overlooking the types of cold, damaged, or unloving parents present sometimes in books like this right now. But life does contain such people, and pretending otherwise (or writing all such characters as saints) would be untruthful, and would diminish true human goodness when it's found. There is goodness here, but it's not guaranteed, and it doesn't come without honest effort. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

A major character suffers from depression and attempts suicide halfway through the novel.