Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Sorrow and Bliss

This book is heartbreaking… and also beautiful and also messy and also so very real. It makes me sad, it makes me angry, but it also makes me hopeful and nostalgic, the original Greek.

I don’t know who said this book was funny. I would not describe it as that. It has humorous moments for sure, but on the whole this is not an “extremely funny” book.

I loved it and I think you should read it.

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hannahbailey's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

<b>TW: mental illness, toxic relationships, domestic abuse, suicidal thoughts, miscarriage, alcoholism, emotional abuse, grief </b>

Absolutely sped through this. Had I owned a copy on kindle, I would be sharing probably hundreds of highlights right now.

Written so effortlessly, with a style of prose that is just a pleasure to read despite the heavy themes. Actually, it's probably this writing style that makes the themes so digestible. Really enjoyed the lack of 'perfect' characters and the unreliable narration. Found the narrative we tell ourselves about how we're perceived by others when suffering with mental illness to be very relatable. This portrayal of mental illness, teen-to-adulthood and managing relationships is not only relatable but quite soothing to see published into the mainstream. The narrative voice was very compelling as was the jumping to different parts of the timeline.

Took me 3 days to finish which is a record this year as everything else I pick up in 2024 has taken me much longer to get through!

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ashleyjean6's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

This is a difficult read that is also potentially extremely triggering. It is about a fictitious mental illness, but it's effects are very real and raw. If that sounds like it would not make for 5 star fiction, it does. Although bleak it is not without hope and it is absolutely gorgeously written! The audiobook is also beautifully narrated. Highly recommend! Definitely a top book this year, maybe period.

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racheljiyoungshin's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

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crazytourists_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

3.0

I can't believe I ended up liking this book.
I did struggle at first, with the narration style, I found it kind of juvenile and obnoxious, and that feeling lasted for quite a while; for about one-third of the book. Every few pages I was contemplating about stopping reading. And then it kind of fell into place and the narration made sense, and I started to be submerged in the story. Up until the diagnosis paragraph where the actual diagnosis is withheld and dashes are put in ita name. I don't get it. It's the kind of thing that perpetuates the shame and stigma, not naming what we fear. The specifics weren't needed; if the structure of the story was a bit different, I think the author could get away with all this mess. And then comes the end, which I quite liked, and the characters are still in pain but have grown, and it's not overly happy, which is a good thing. It is rather real.
So, an experience with its ups and downs, but on the positive side in the end.

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rakkaussipsi's review against another edition

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emotional sad

Loveable characters? No

2.0

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bail33's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny inspiring 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

Would rate this more than five. No book has ever made me feel this way.

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mikayladlewis's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

5.0

This book was beautiful, spellbounding and honest. Honest in a way that cracked me open. It did take me about a third of the book to get into the writing style and the character, since there is a lot of jumping around. However, I think the author did an outstanding job portraying mental illness from a first person perspective. There were some moments that I felt the echoes of Bell Jar, just in the writing style and how raw the emotions come across. I would like to give a warning where if your headspace isn't great then maybe put off reading? Nonetheless it was an amazing novel.

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