Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn

19 reviews

zoenelson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

A beautiful book exploring the intersectionality of themes related to poverty, gender, sexuality, immigration, trauma, family, and grief. Check the trigger warnings for your own well-being. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Abortion

kharcourt's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

missmarguerita's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Grief, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Classism, and Deportation

nefariousbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

this was such a surprise. I picked it almost randomly for a reading challenge and it grabbed me by the heart and squeezed until my chest hurt before I could realize what was happening.
I ugly cried. I relate to Patsy and Cicely's story and seeing the culmination broke something in me. my heart doesn't let go either. and this was a very painful reminder of that.
above all, this books is so honest about so many *ugly* things. the reality of being undocumented, the illusion of ingrained motherhood, the social pressure on queerness. I appreciate the book for all of that so much.
it's not an easy read, but it's one that stays with you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Deportation

filmnoirz's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

3.75

this covers so many topics and issues prevalent in jamaican culture- and hit me and my mommy issues right in the gut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Xenophobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racism

klawrence1206's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

2.0

The content was interesting and very thought provoking. The author has a beautiful style to her writing. But for me, parts were disjointed and jumped around between places and points in time. Her editors did an injustice to this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism

gidget_selby's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

on_a_journey's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

I enjoyed this novel. It was a great depiction of how migrating to another country is different for everyone and also how the struggles are similar for people who may have good or decent standing in their previous countries cross over the ocean and just have to make a way possible. Also the quote that depicts this exploration is, the grass is always greener on the other side. The stories presented in this book about the various people that migrated (though the main story is about Patsy) was well thought out. I enjoyed the setting of the times in both Jamaica and America, it was a walk back in recent history. However, I struggled with the child abandonment portion of the story because though Patsy had her reasons I still struggled with understanding why she didn't try to contact Tru for so many years. Also, to make it worse someone had to come into her life to give her a nudge to face her fear and contact her only child. I do agree with previous reviewers that the ending seemed very rushed and I would like to see more about Patsy and Tru rekindling their relationship and not just hear the letter that was written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

juliastern__'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Abortion

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

Evocative, but haunting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Outing, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Abortion, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Colorism, Gentrification