Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Third Person by Emma Grove

17 reviews

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.75

A beast of a graphic memoir that I’m very glad I read on my iPad - carpal tunnel just thinking about holding a 920-page graphic novel. This is an autobiographical work, depicting Emma’s struggles to transition after being diagnosed with DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). It’s intense, and often frustrating, as Emma has the misfortune of having possibly the least empathetic therapist in the world. Toby was awful and I hope he is no longer practising. Their circling and aggressive (on Toby’s part) conversations were unpleasant to read, so imagine how Emma must have felt experiencing that, if it feels exhausting as an outside reader. 

I liked the way Grove depicted her alters - it was easy to see from facial expressions and posture who was fronting at the time. The art is fairly simple, black and white, and I read that Emma didn’t write in order - she just sat down to sketch what she remembered, then pieced it together. This is definitely visible in the choppy, pell-mell style, and I think works well depicting the turmoil Emma was experiencing at the time. 

Beyond heartened that Emma found a therapist who took the time to understand her better and who was versed in DID. Wish her nothing but the best and all the healing for the trauma she endured as a child. 

Read for TSG Genre Challenge 2023: Read a book with more pages than 2022’s longest book & Queer Your Year 2023: Over 500 pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Transphobia, Child abuse, and Medical trauma

daniellekat's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Wow. This was intense, insightful and emotional. This was an incredible account of the author's gender transition and reckoning with her D.I.D. diagnosis. I thought the sparse illustrations were fitting, but I found the facial expressions a bit lacking. It was hard for me to really understand some of the nuances during the conversations with Toby. On the topic of Toby,

From the blub I thought he was going to be a supportive asset to Emma but was actually shocked with his treatment of her. I was unprepared for some of those scenes and often had to take breaks between certain chapters. I understand that there is a level of narrator unreliability here, but the disrespect and mistreatment was appalling.

Overall, I enjoyed this especially since it is a topic I am very unfamiliar with, but I'd strongly recommend checking the content warnings on this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

Medical malpractice

magical_sof's review

emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.25

Overall, I think Emma's story is very well written and drawn. Her experiences with healthcare (specifically with receiving mental health care) as a trans person is unfortunately all to common. I feel for her experiences during therapy deeply, and found myself worrying about her (almost) never ending therapeutic relationship with Toby! I enjoyed that part. 

I will say that this book is not an educational book about DID, and I would caution folks reading this book to gain a better understanding of DID, if they have no prior knowledge. I understand there is only so much you an put in a graphic novel, and only so much that you are willing to personally disclose as an author, or even only so much you can remember, but I find the (clinical/practical) explanation and (personal) resolution of DID to be quite fast! I came into this having read several books from those with lived experience, and knowing systems, so I didn't have any issues understanding, but if you have no knowledge, it may be helpful to do a bit of background reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Bullying, Child abuse, and Transphobia

Moderate: Physical abuse, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Violence, and Toxic relationship

hunkydorky's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Deadnaming, Transphobia, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Bullying, and Dysphoria

internationalreads's review

dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Addiction, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Transphobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Physical abuse

indeedithappens's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Transphobia, Dysphoria, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Deadnaming, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Child abuse, Classism, Emotional abuse, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

readinghavoc's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book was so well done. I loved getting to learn about D.I.D. alongside Emma, and was surprised by how much affection I had for her disparate parts. The art style was really compelling in both its simplicity and the complexity of emotion, action, and thought it was able to convey. The black out boxes were a great choice, especially after reading about the authors process of writing the book. And it was fascinating to see the ways that Emma’s D.I.D. and her queerness interacted with one another. Insightful, captivating, and deeply moving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, Transphobia, Violence, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Deadnaming

frozenduck's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Transphobia, and Emotional abuse

ferlintokezeirquizes's review

emotional fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Transphobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Bullying, Deadnaming, and Violence

arirose's review

I try to remember not to rate memoirs so I won't here but wow. This was such a heavy read at times, even frustrating sometimes, but so worth it. I teared up a few times, but I won't spoil anything so I won't say where. The art style grew on me, especially with the expressions (especially Katina's expressions of in being honest lol). Towards the end, when we saw the pieces come together, was just so good. I loved that. I even loved seeing how Emma pieced everything together (literally!) in the after notes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Transphobia and Bullying