Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Glitterland

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Glitterland by Alexis Hall

61 reviews

lauralia's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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zarahzoe's review against another edition

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2.25

Fatshaming as a cutesy bonding moment and a protagonist who never manages to get over his classis views. Also I couldn't get over how easily Ash was forgiven for his hurtful, atrocious actions. I know this is supposed to be a HFN (with possibilities for a HEA) but I just don't see the possibilities.
Alexis tends to be quite hit or miss for me, but the hits hit so high that I sometimes have to endure the misses, but... Uhm. Was this ever a miss.

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adrienanthony's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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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graceheartsbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

This is my seventh Alexis Hall book as I’ve been trying to get through all of his catalog after reading and falling in love with Boyfriend Material last year (and Husband Material/Mortal Follies/Something Fabulous/Something Spectacular and 10 Things that Never Happened).

It was interesting to read his debut novel after reading so many others. And maybe because I’ve read so many of his other works that I’m not really sure how to feel about this one.

I really appreciated how Glitterland covered mental illness and the self loathing you can feel while going through that (especially as someone going through her own mental health journey as I learn to cope with social anxiety). However, I don’t know if I really felt the connection between the two leads but Ash and Darian both grew on me (even if Darian’s accent was a bit distracting to decipher…then again, I am an American and I barely know the distinct differences between British accents let alone American ones lol)

I also really liked the annotations and seeing Alexis Hall’s insights through the writing process—it’s interesting to read about what makes an author tick, you know?

Fair warning: Ash is an unlikable protagonist although unlike a lot unlikable protags, I did not get annoyed by him as much—although I did say aloud ‘Ash no’ when he f’ed something up lol

I do kind of wish we saw some of Darian’s POV. Not that I would’ve expected it because Alexis Hall doesn’t seem to do dual POVs but for some reason, sometimes I wanted to know what Darian was thinking.

I didn’t really have an strong reaction to most of the side characters (I say most because one in particular got on my nerves near the end for reasons I cannot reveal except in a spoiler👀)

Still everyone needs to start somewhere and I appreciate this novel for exsisting because without it would not have a new favorite author to enjoy❤️

So I was pretty neutral towards Niall, right? He’s a bit overprotective maybe but I didn’t really have an opinion of him…unlike chapter 12 that is. I hated Niall after he outed Ash’s mental illness. Like WTF? He wanted to Darian in his own time NIALL. Why the hell would you do that in public🙃 I already have strong feelings on outings, I didn’t realize I had strong feelings about someone’s mental health being outed was a trigger for me as well😅 I just can’t imagine doing that to someone, especially if this is a close friend of yours (granted Ash/Niall’s relationship is complicated). I’m a person who highly values her agency/privacy so I can’t imagine how violating this would feel

Chapter 19…my god chapter 19. Ash and Darian were doing so well and then Ash opened his mouth and said something stupid at the wedding. Alexis Hall mentioned in his annotations that this was one of his most awkward scenes and I have to agree. Like the Blackwood garden party in Boyfriend Material was pretty awful—I hate parents that try to control their kids—but this scene crushed my heart. Just straight up stabbed in the chest with how brutal it was. Like Ash, why? What are you doing talking about the man that you love that like that🥲 I mean, obviously he did it because the judgement of people at the wedding made him panic but still hurts, okay? lol

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esalmon13's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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emrosenq's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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downtown_kb's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad tense medium-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

4.0

Ash is struggling with his life, his mental health, his happiness and is very much feeling like he’s at rock bottom. Until a chance meeting with Darian at a club.

It took me way too long to get around to reading this book and I understand the hype. I think it’s well deserved. I appreciated just how unlikely a pair these two are and just how much Darian made Ash happy. This is a great example of a character conflict you could see coming a mile away but knowing there is some growth that needs to happen. Ash’s continued journey of recovery, letting go of who he was and accepting himself for who he is, was heartwarming. I think Alexis Hall has a gift for bringing life to his characters and making things funny amidst the very human struggles. I'm gonna have to say tho, I'm not one that insists on open door romances but it is sad to know just how well a certain author can write them and then to know they hardly ever do anymore.

A great audiobook narration by Nicholas Boulton.

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bibliophiletricia's review against another edition

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5.0

I loved Glitterland by Alexis Hall. Ash’s journey of self-awareness thru his mental illness, and fighting past the way he and his oldest friends see him, is heart rending. And Darian loves him thru it all. I loved Nicholas Boulton’s narration, especially the differences between Ash and friends’ posh Oxford accents and Darian’s Essex accent. I couldn’t have done that in my head. Human narrators are magical.

This new audio edition includes Aftermath, which previously was only available in the old ebook edition, and is of an important discovery Darian makes. Also includes a couple other bonus thingies.

Content advisory for detailed talk and experiences of self harm, depression, spiraling, and mania.

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vvayl's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

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the_lady_librarian's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

4.25

Excellent! This is the third book from Alexis Hall that I've read and I am continually surprised by how different each of their books are. Giltterland is a bit absurd, the characters are weird and eccentric, yet somehow charming. .Ash and Niall are characters we should categorically dislike- they are not good people. They are shallow and malicious and way too egotistical but somehow you find yourself loving them. Perhaps because of their humanity. Hall brings light to a mental illness that is drowned in negative stigma too often and does a good job of neither romanticizing or sugarcoating it. I do wish the author could have made it clear that this is Ash's life at this point but that it can change-for the better. There is a lot of catastrophizing of Ash's illness and sometimes it felt like there was no hope. Maybe that was the point, to make the reader feel like they are living in a depressive episode but I think it was to the detriment of the work the author put in to destigmatize bipolar depression. It made it seem like people with mental illness can't have long-term, healthy relationship. That the relationship will always be that of the ill person/ caregiver. The narrator did a wonderful job, especially with the Essex accent. Overall, a very enjoyable book with deep and profound moments that could have benefited from a bit more joy.

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