Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Sula by Toni Morrison

24 reviews

aducharme4's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, and Forced institutionalization

simareading's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

amy_q13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Slavery and War

henrib11's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Self harm, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug use, Slavery, Blood, Excrement, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, and Classism

jkull_10's review against another edition

mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

lizziaha's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Every perspective in this book flows into the next like water in a river—an unstoppable force. That being said, the one I wanted to linger with the most, the one I tried to swim upriver in, was Nel’s perspective. Maybe this is because Nel and Sula’s friendship was the most compelling part of this book. And Morrison agrees, if the final line of the book is any indication: “We was girls together.” There’s a particular kind of grief that Morrison writes about in this book that feels yawning, endless, undefinable. She manages to fit such a huge concept into so few words, I feel like I’ve been robbed of all the words that she should have needed. As I work my way through Morrison’s books, I fear I’m beginning to see a trend of being in awe of her writing, while not caring much for the plot. Two books aren’t really enough to say that definitively but I’m interested to see what I think about her other books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Homophobia

eve81's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

jennswan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, and War

jinglebellyee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

It took me a long time to finish reading Sula and ngl, I did struggle to understand the subtext. I even had to search the internet after each chapter, trying to understand what I’ve just read. It definitely was helpful but wished I’d arrived at the conclusion/analysis myself. It was deliberately looking for a book about female friendships and this was a very interesting read, it’s unlike your usual novels so I’ll be thinking about this. My heart aches for Sula and Nel, the friendship they had when they were kids vs when they are adults turned out to be so different (and bittersweet). The characters definitely had very distinct personalities and you could really relate to them as the story progresses. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Fire/Fire injury