Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Der kleine Freund by Donna Tartt

14 reviews

rinnavv's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Tough read due to how heavy it was both mentally and physically (a lot of words on a LOT of pages lol). Loved everything about this though. Will miss the characters dearly :')

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcohol

_genevieve_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.0

When I started reading, I was drawn in by the setting and characters, and the big mystery. But as the book went on and

the mystery was still not solved,

I began to get bored, to be completely honest. Some books you finish because you just have to know what happens next; this book I finished just so I wouldn’t wonder if it got better at the end.

Conclusion: alright, not great, wouldn’t reread.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness

Snakes are featured heavily, so if you don’t like them, don’t read it

yleavy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.25

The novel is very atmospheric, but ultimately an unsatisfying slog that did not need to be told in 620+ pages.

I’ve always been unsettled by how Tartt writes POC, and The Little Friend is no different (maybe worse). This book finally convinced me to never read another of her novels. 

Also, how many times can one write “there was a stunned silence” or “there was a confused pause” in one book? A lot, apparently. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

hjb_128's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Abandonment

rowanelisa's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bookedandbusy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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? No

5.0

This was a gritty coming of age story clouded in grief and mystery. It provided an in depth look at privilege and racism in the 1960’s.  Harriet was an interesting, unique character who, despite never knowing him, was desperate to solve her brother's murder.  This is shown several times through the book in different ways.  It shows that grief doesn’t come only from death, but growing up in the shadow of someone else. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

jelliestars's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and War

johnclough's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lief_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Animal cruelty

Minor: Confinement

petrichorandcoffee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A compelling, painful, dark, beautifully written, unpredictable book. I am very glad I read it. There were some points in the book where I felt upset by racist language used, but I realized as the book progressed that we (readers) are meant to be upset by it and to see it as commentary on the time and place. It is not quite as resolved at the end as I personally would have liked - but that serves the story well so I don't mind. This is a story about loss, pain, growth, inherited trauma, structural classicism, structural racism, childhood, grief, dreams, and family. I would say it is southern gothic despite the fact that is lacks the supernatural/magical realism I feel is required for that genre because the text feels haunted and in the service of ghosts despite their lack of presence in the story itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism