Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

176 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

astareads's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not bad, not great. I probably didn't understand half of it, whereas the other half was either thrilling or boring. 

I went through every footnote and reference that was actually inside the book, and that too was a mixed bag. Sometimes it was interesting, sometimes it just kept referring back to itself which got frustrating.

I think I would've enjoyed the story of The Navidson Record on its own, as Johnny Truant's bits were just incomprehensible most of the time and not really much of interest until towards the end when

he finally let go of the drugs and sex.

On the good side I was reminded of Susanne Clarke's Piranesi, which is one of my favourites and has a similar labyrinthine feel to it, although a lot more literally than this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

sapphic_shroom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Sexual violence

gondorgirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Car accident

heather667's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

raebeiss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.5

where do i even begin. a book that took me 6 months to read and is also amazing. please go read this one?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Misogyny

greevianguy's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism

bokslukaren's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

3.0

You know what they say; one man's unpublished essay is another's hookup journal and spiral into insanity! 

Get your notepad (physical or digital) ready, and while you're at it you might as well grab a mirror, because this book requires you to twist and turn with careful and thorough attentiveness to have a chance at being deciphered and comprehended! House of Leaves is an analytical and detailed essay (including footnotes) about a documentary, as well as reactions to said essay. With foreshadowing, insanity, mental illness and riddles hounding every corner of every page and swirling around in the reader's head, notes offer a necessary stability. This book is intensely unsettling and somehow still managed to keep my attention despite the 700 hundred page essay-style confusion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

thesuperawesomesarah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

mo0nsugar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This book will stick with you long after you've climbed from its cavernous depths.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

This book can be rough for people in a dark headspace.