Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

17 reviews

crybaby_chloe's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious medium-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

3.75

I feel there are a lot of great moments in this book but I was left wanting more development. I felt confused by the relationship between the main character and her husband. This is the point, I think, but I just felt that the lack of fleshing out the husband's character made me confused about some of the main character's motivations or decisions relating to him. I also felt that I needed more of a conclusion for the plotline
Spoilerabout Wanda White. I didn't need an explicit answer about who she was but I felt that this thread got tied up too quickly and I was left wanting more.
Spoiler Overall, I enjoyed the book, but felt more interested in certain parts / themes than others. 

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alex_mabel's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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

4.0

Super weird, but I liked it. I think if I was a mom this would be hard to read, but since I’m not I thought it was very interesting and raw. The writing was so good. I do wish there were chapters, but that’s just a personal preference.

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addythebookbat's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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fedelikeslego's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

I don’t know how to feel honestly. I had very highly expectations because the premise is amazing. What I found is an extremely boring collage of ideas. There’s so many things that are just randomly put in the plot and then never explained/finished? It’s just frustrating honestly. It feels like Yoder’s publisher just forced her to make the novel longer.

- Who where those strawberry dogs? Was she just loosing her mind? I didn’t get it.

- What was even the point of the Wanda plot? I have no idea.

- The relationship with Nightbitch husband was just so useless, also he changed in a second? Like, so unexpectedly? I got the point of him just being good, but “typically male” the whole time, but it could have been deepen it better? It just sounds so stupid

- Honestly, just the whole dog thing that she randomly set aside.

- her son just disappear? Like, I get the point of her finally being a free human being (again, difficult after motherhood), but like, he just suddenly disappear?


What was I expecting from this book before reading it?
Literally a mother who turned in to a dog, but like, fisically, not only mentally.

What would i have preferred, after reading it?
A short book would have been much better, not a short story, but like a 100-120 pages book, so less then the half of it. 

As a artist myself I loved every single time she talked about art, making art and being an artist. I also loved the performance at the end, made perfect sense with her feelings (Not feeling sure about his husband reactions? You’re eating a rotten cadaver from the ground? Sounds great! I’ll shower you, i’ll love your performance!)

The domestic cat violence was a blow to the heart, I didn’t want to read it.

So… I’m just disappointed, I expected much more in terms of both plot and general message? Let’s objectively look at it, no emotions, how could you not found obvious what she said? The “perfect mother era” finished like decades ago? A lot of people think that and admit that right now, there’s communities, support groups. Literally nothing was revolutionary about it.

Don’t get me wrong, the 1 star is not because “it’s too weird”, I read weirder books, it’s just not good, extremely poor execution.

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jannaboobear's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

4.25

What a wild ride 🐒🐒🐒

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c_nagels's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

1.0

Honestly, just wasn’t the type of book I would like or recommend. Definitely need a strong stomach for certain parts. Seemed like the character was just excusing child abuse by saying it was art. 

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kayleejanes's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0


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claired01's review against another edition

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4.0

I read this as a part of a boygenius book club. Solidifies my feelings of never wanting kids. But makes me view and love mothers and all their magic in a whole new light. 

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traa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

4.5


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bookwormbb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

I really enjoyed Yoder’s writing style and the way she used different elements such as animals, gore, “dark” thoughts, and societal composure to develop this complicated MFC. She showcases how every woman is multifaceted and beneath all her layers is a person, or in this case, an “animal”, that wants to be cared for, to be heard, and to be free. 

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