Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Ward D

Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

jessi_lou95's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

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darlaslays's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

My opinion on this book is a bit complicated. It was both easy and difficult to read at the same time. It was engaging and interesting, but also dragged due to how much I disliked the main character.

I found myself getting super irritated at the numerous times the word, “crazy,” was used. The main character, Amy, is super unlikeable and dense. She’s supposed to be a third year medical student, but she doesn’t know a lot of basic information that you would already know as during undergrad, such as “sundowning.” She is clearly not very smart, so I don’t know how she made it into her graduate program. By the end of the book, it appears that

the choice to make her annoying and hard to root for was intentional. Poor Will. If she were a real person, I’m sure Amy will eventually get help for her condition because living with untreated schizophrenia is impossible to hide as you get older.

The conclusion ties everything together and made the slog worth it to me. However, it represents mental illness terribly.

I almost didn’t finish this book due to how the topic of mental health was covered. I also couldn’t suspend my disbelief on the unrealistic aspects of the ward or healthcare in general. I did appreciate when they sort of acknowledged that mentally ill patients are still people too.

Amy is very immature and has a terrible take on mental disorders. It does get reconciled in the end, but that reconciliation does demonize people who have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. As someone with bipolar II, I felt irritated that the condition wasn’t accurately portrayed. I’ve had one horrible manic episode with psychosis and several hypomanic periods in my life, but it never led to violence on others. I wish it was clearly depicted that the mental disorders and the violent actions taken by the characters were separate issues.

The writing was clunky at times, and it read like a YA novel. Nothing wrong with that, but the characters certainly didn’t seem like they were mid-to-late twenty somethings. They felt more like teenagers. I definitely cringed at several lines sprinkled throughout the book. At other times, I loved the descriptions of the events unfolding.

All that being said, the twists were fun and interesting, albeit it left the story with plot holes. Focusing on them too much would have just taken my enjoyment away. I can see why people are a fan of McFadden’s writing overall. This is likely not her best work, though.

It’s a fun time, just don’t set your expectations high for realism and be prepared to roll your eyes at the main character’s inner thoughts and actions.

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hannnah_reads's review

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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dmackreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Starting with the good, this book was INSANE. I genuinely did not know where this was going or what was going to happen. It made me sick and as much as mental health scared me before, it scares me 10x more now.

I will say a lot of things seemed very unrealistic to me and the story was very slow moving. I don’t know why so many people say this is “fast-paced” because it absolutely is not. A slow moving thriller isn’t bad if there’s little hints as to what may happen or little things happening that make your heart jump throughout but I was getting kind of bored because I didn’t really feel much until the last 30ish% of the book.

But, the ending was insane, unexpected, and very good.

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