Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Temporada de huracanes by Fernanda Melchor

19 reviews

bookishgingerjo's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, and Murder

21maximillian's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Transphobia, Police brutality, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

slvngrt's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

carojust's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

1.5

This was absolutely demonic. And that's the point, I guess. Poverty and its many faces of degradation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

oversherin's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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

Not rating this book because it is not my taste - but I respect the hell out of it. 

This book is incredibly violent and dark. You get right into the mind of the characters who are deeply troubled and hateful people who are wrecked by their environment. Chapters are long dark spirals into the depths of these characters and their darkest thoughts imaginable. Despite this, Melchor is very skilled in giving them just enough humanity that I empathized with them and wanted to stick it out to the end. As other reviewers have said, this book is deeply, disturbingly, honest in a way I have never read before. To me, the hardest part of this book is that most of the characters are children who are wrapped up in the worst of the world. The run-on prose took adjustment, but I found it very natural by middle.

Overall, I thought the story was compelling and timeless. I gritted my teeth through the whole book and had to scan some chapters because I just couldn't stomach it. However, I respect this book and the stories it's telling. There is more truth to this book than I'd like to face. It definitely affected me in an artful way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy

amelietherin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

motherofbears's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-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

4.25

Written in stream of consciousness with shifting points of view. I felt like each character took a turn sitting down and telling their story while chain smoking and drinking. There are no reliable narrators, the story is told like a small town legend. Casually devastating at times. 

I would say this is a challenging read, especially for someone not used to the writing style, but also because of the subject matter. All the trigger warnings, really. 

It will stay with me for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Pregnancy

meghansolo's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I hated every second of this book. Well written, but incredibly, incredibly dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

elchivovivo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

A tour de fucking force. 

Each chapter is a single paragraph with little or no room for breathing.

Melchor changes narrative voices like a boxer delivers his punches. And yet, the story flows like water.

The language is pure, and i am curious to see how anyone could translate this dense, boiling, gulf- Mexican dialect into another language. Or even to see how a non-mexican spanish speaker would absorb all the local slang.

What wrenches the heart is that the story, the darkness, the characters, are all realistic (if not based on true people). It reflects the hopeless trajectory of our country, which in spite of its beauty and depth seems to be cosmically, cosmogonically thirsting for blood drawn with violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, and Abandonment

gansey_02's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Abortion, and Murder