Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

33 reviews

veepopp's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Pedophilia, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kkulhannie's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

5.0

without a doubt the most fucked-up book i have ever read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kaylanbacon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hfred28's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

I have so many feelings about this book. The beginning of the book was strong because it had a lot of tension. There was a build-up to learning about what happened to Shay, and then I felt like after she gets involved with the Paters, (which sounded kind of mispronounced from a Latin standpoint in the first part of the audiobook) the tension is just lost. The meetings can't be portrayed as super terrifying

if really nothing bad happens to Shay and she can escape all the time. Also what the hell was up with her getting the brand?

I feel like the violence got normalized to the reader because it was just more and more meetings. I did want to stop reading it a few times because the misogynistic language from The Bad Guys was too much. I also thought, and this felt confirmed by the author being an academic, that there were some Big Ideas about Feminism that were tried to be explored, but it felt heavy-handed and not concrete. Also, I really wanted to like Jamie, but I felt

not great about him from a reporter-is-exploiting-trauma standpoint and also that Shay seemed in no healthy mental state to be having a sexual relationship.

I feel like the reflections on the past had a lot of promise as a plot, but I started feeling lost as current events happened.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Big alert - this has a lot of violence against women, misogynistic language, and sexual violence, so it's a rough time.

maggiemichael's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

shelbylynnn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book is DARK. There were trigger warnings at the beginning but I was still entirely unprepared for just how brutal this was going to be. As someone who isn't bothered but graphic or violent content, I was still completely blindsided by this and a bit uncomfortable at times, so please be aware if you're going to read this that there is a LOT of graphic sexual violence, as well as suicide, drug use, emotional abuse, and physical violence. I have a lot of thoughts about this one. It definitely had some issues but in the end I honestly enjoyed it quite a bit. 

Starting with my likes:
The plot was really fast-paced and there was plenty of twisty suspense to keep me intrigued the entire time. It had some great commentary on systemic misogyny, rape culture, and the very real fears of abuse, manipulation, and violence that women face living in today's society. The narrator was complex and flawed. She struggled with her own complicity in the violence she endured. She felt guilt and shame as a victim and had a hard time differentiating what she wanted from what she felt she deserved. I honestly didn't see the final plot twist coming and it felt like a fitting conclusion to the book.

Now the dislikes:
The podcast/interview format took me out of the story a bit. The narrator, Shay, was supposedly recounting things that took place 8+ years ago but she is quoting full conversations word for word. It just wasn't realistic. It also felt very odd and forced at times the way the dialogue was written between Shay and Jamie. I mean, she sees her childhood best friend for the first time in 10 years and immediately spills all of her darkest secrets to him and his very popular, very public podcast...really?? The things she was sharing were not only uncomfortable and deeply personal, but also potentially very dangerous as she accuses powerful men of doing horrible things to her and her friends, yet she tells him everything with no hesitation and no worries about the potential consequences of her confessions. I would've much preferred if we had gotten flashbacks of what happened to her rather than her retelling the story. Shay's husband and her marriage in general also felt very unnecessary and could've been left out with no effect on the story. It just made me like her less and made her involvement with Jamie even more uncomfortable (which was complicated and weird to me for other reasons). 

My biggest issue with this book was that some things just didn't make sense.

Shay is able to so easily access all of these clubs that are supposed to be a huge well-kept secret. She uses her real name and this somehow doesn't ever get back to Don even though the members supposedly screen everyone before granting them access into their clubs. She faced no consequences for continually escaping these very dangerous who threatened her at every turn. As a character Jamie was very confusing to me. He never did anything to keep Shay from putting herself in danger time after time, even after it was very clear that she was traumatized from her past and was in a very vulnerable state. He knew that she was too close to the situation and was chasing the leads for the wrong reasons, yet he let her continue to put herself in even more traumatic situations, all the while saying how much he cared about her. There are plenty more plot points that really don't make sense when you stop to think about them, but honestly the storyline and the suspense made up for it all enough that I really didn't care. Overall, this was an enjoyable and twisty thriller unlike anything else I've read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

zarakoconnor's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazing thriller. Could not stop reading. Made a fantastic audiobook. Story was twisty and dark and the perfect amount of fiction and commentary on feminism and gender roles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

areshni's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, and Rape

bookishjac's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

the best book ive read this year!! incredible.