Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Morgen, morgen und wieder morgen by Gabrielle Zevin

460 reviews

slowburnsrus's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

2.0

When I started this book I was bored by the clunky and self indulgent writing, and annoyed by the peak White Feminism critique of trauma and cultural appropriation that was far less thoughtful and nuanced than the Barbie movie. 

The root of my dissatisfaction is that reading about a character playing a game is like reading about a character working out…fun when you do it yourself, excruciating when we read the minutiae of another’s experience.

The strongest part of this book is its work with grief, and the metaphors around gaming in relation to grief and loss. That grabbed me in the second half and kept me reading.

But the writing feel excessively overwrought with not enough payoff in either plot or observations on the human condition to make me enjoy reading it. 

I cannot express how much I came to loathe many of the characters, particular Dov, the sexual harasser and groomer who (spoiler) gets a fucking redemption arc at the end of the book.

I was surprised that there were fewer attributions than I would expected in the authors note as I recognized many of the book’s references, and Sadie in particular was prone to insightful wanderings that so had definitely read before.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use and Abortion

frivolousclaw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

just really disliked the beginning

especially w the power imbalance w sadie and dov.

honestly found sadie and sam annoying in their 20s. they're kind of terrible actually. but pretty sure that was the point

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer

risaroo033's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, and Death of parent

rebeccaquinton's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

aannaemelie's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Blood, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

chloel29's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

emilyanne_5's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

2.0

I had a really hard time trying to invest in these characters. Honestly they all suck but maybe that’s the point? It also felt like a person that’s never played video games wrote a book about video games. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, and Murder

eliajor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I was instantly drawn in within the first chapter, especially coming from my previous read this was a refreshing reset. I liked how Gabrielle's writing flowed however I found Sadie's character to be insufferable, Marx's character to be too perfect and Sam's character to be the silent tortured genius reminiscent of 'A Little Life'. 
You know it's a good book when you can relate to all three of the characters however it felt like Sadie's character was constantly getting worse and she dragged the book for me. Many of the issues and miscommunication between her and Sam could have easily been resolved with a good talk

which we sort of got at the end of the book but that should've came earlier, not after they've matured

. 
I liked how each chapter talked about a different concept whether it's a game or not.

The NPC chapter did break me as I liked Marx

but I found it so baffling that Marx would

be with Sadie in the end

.
I have no sympathy for Dov, infact I loathe the 'slightly self-aware but mainly arrogance' characteristic he has. Honestly have no idea why Sadie was

driven to be in contact with him even towards the end and has somehow forgiven how he's treated her

.
As for Sam,

I hated how Sadie continuously blamed him for her emotions and didn't take accountability, nor did she show sympathy (which understandable she was also going through depression, but that doesn't give her an excuse to treat him like a punching bag) when Sam walked all the way over to her apartment to check on her whilst he was dealing with immense pain. It was torturous seeing Sam endure the loss of mobility on his own.

"What is a game? It's tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It's the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

just_one_more_chapter_ok's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I really enjoyed this book which I both read and listened to. 
Both Sam and Sadie made choices in what they revealed, or didn't reveal, that strongly impacted how they saw and felt about each other. 
More than once I wanted to yell at the book that they needed to talk and not assume things about each other. Just share, but then I guess you wouldn't have conflict so you wouldn't have a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

annaforthebooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

It’s really stories about lifelong friendships that make me an emotional wreck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abortion