Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Veronika Decides to Die

I'm normally not one to leave written reviews but this was such an interesting story!

I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho a few months back and I loved it, so when I saw this book I just started reading it right away without looking up what it was about. I mean, I could have guessed from the title, but I was still quite triggered by the beginning of this book. Coelho talks about suicide the same way you and I talk about the weather. However, once used to its style, this book is about so much more than a woman who wants to die. It's about love, self-discovery and spirituality. It's about the norms of our society. And moreover, it gives a small but very important answer to the question: "What's the point of living?".

I would recommend this book to anyone who feels a bit lost or stuck in their life. This book will definitely give you some food for thought.

One of my favourite quotes (there are so many) :
"Madness is the inability to communicate your ideas. It's as if you are in a foreign country able to see and understand everything that's going on around you, but incapable of explaining what you need to know or of being helped, because you don't understand the language they speak there. We've all felt that. And all of us, one way or another, are mad."

Content Warnings

clarisseep's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

huge trigger warning for suicide, mental illnesses and medical experiences
definitely not bad and a quick read
this is definitely a reflective book in which we can think about the treatment of patients in facilities as well as the definition of “illness” and other words

Content Warnings

tiinamiau's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

merle98's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

0.75

This was probably the worst book I have read in years. After being completely underwhelmed if outright annoyed at Paulo Coelho slapping the reader in the face with supposedly profound moral and philosophical insights in The Alchemist, I was surprised that he was able to take this even further in Veronica Decides To Die. The book more than obviously meant to inspire the readers to "live instead of just existing", "Carpe Diem" and question if "normal" people may not actually be the mad ones. While I agree, that society's perception of what is "normal" is entirely constructed and severely harmful, I don't think this book did anything to dismantle that notion. On the other hand, it was incredibly offensive and dismissive towards anyone suffering from mental illness, suggesting that everyone in the mental hospital was faking their conditions to escape from the real life they couldn't take. The methods employed by the doctors in the book were more than questionable and unscientific. And then there is the sheer misogyny of this book! From claiming that women choose "romantic" ways to die as advertised by Hollywood princesses, to Veronica deciding to die because of boredom, to Veronica deciding to live because she falls in love with a piano-playing nondescript man in the same ward and has an epiphany whilst furiously masturbating in front of him as he is just trying to play the piano...the book is a complete, sexist train wreck. So, Paulo, what does this mean? Veronica just needs to explore her sexuality (and sexually harass a side-character in the process) and find a cute boyfriend and her life suddenly has meaning again? "Yolo" and the loss of any sexual inhibitions as the answer to suicidal tendencies? A complete and utter misrepresentation of mental illness is what this is. Beyond that, just about every character in this book was undeveloped and unlikeable. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

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