Scan barcode
jessi_lou95's review
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
darlaslays's review
- 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
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
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.
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
The violence isn’t gratuitous, but people are restrained and beaten, brutally killed, or found dead.bsparx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I noticed the reviews about Ward D are mixed, which I can understand. It becomes clear, early on, that our protagonist is an unreliable narrator. They’re not for everyone and sometimes a reader needs more patience to get through what seems like a potentially annoying character flaw. However, when you get through it, realise it’s an unreliable narrator, sometimes you can be so pleasantly surprised.
Amy, our protagonist, comes across as being very unsure of herself. She lacks confidence and, eventually, I suspected she had an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. I have anxiety myself. Reading Amy’s thoughts was akin to listening to my own thoughts. They weren’t the same, mind you, but they were exhausting. They were all over the place. I was like, “girl, you need some lexapro or something.” My thoughts and then Amy’s downward spiral was not a good mix. This was the point I had a break.
I enjoyed the other characters. They’re all very interesting, a little kooky, and questionable. About halfway through I didn’t trust any of the characters. I didn’t trust the main character. I had built up several theories and, in my experience, they’re usually right, but this time I was wrong! So wrong, and so good that I was!
Now, as someone who has a gazillion mental illnesses, I feel I can comment on the fact the story is set in a psychiatric ward (never had the actual experience though) with characters who have mental illness and disorders. I think, if you take things a certain way, you could be a tad offended by some of the mental illness portrayal. This is granted in some stories. However I don’t feel this is the way with Ward D. I feel the way McFadden wrote about diagnoses and treatment, from Amy’s perspective, was open-minded and in the positive. Amy actually learnt some things by the end of the story, which is great.
I found Ward D very easy to read. It grabbed my attention straight away and had momentum. If I was a person who was able to sit for long periods of time, and didn’t prize my sleep, I would have easily finished this book in one sitting. As it was, I finished it in just over one day, and still got my sleep. And now I want to read another McFadden novel.
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Mental illness, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Medical content and Murder
Minor: Addiction and Dementia
hannnah_reads's review
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
dmackreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
weebspec's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
fableworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
insideunder's review
- 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
1.5
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
swimmer120x's review
3.5
I wasn’t expecting the plot twist at the end. It seemed a little far fetched, given the
The book was enjoyable, although it did not have a realistic ending. The majority of the book, aside from the ending, was realistic.
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, and Gaslighting
luna_98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Child abuse and Drug abuse