Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of Death Foretold by Sam Knight

8 reviews

definestrange's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

seventhswan's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.5

3.5 stars, but a very strong 3.5 - this was a fascinating read! I don't truly know if I believe in premonitions or not, despite believing I and people I know have experienced them, and it seems like neither Knight nor the researchers in this book know if they do either. A conclusion either way is never drawn, and we are left to make up our own minds.

Regardless, though, I thought this was an accessibly-written book, free of outright woo but also of preachy scepticism. The opening section about Aberfan was particularly gripping. I did find that the following sections meandered a bit - everywhere they went was interesting enough, but I struggled to find the thread linking them together - and I would have liked to hear more about the later work and wrapping-up of the Premonitions Bureau. Towards the end things got a little repetitive (here is a bad thing that happened, here is someone who predicted it) but it was refreshing to read such a well-researched, clearly-written book about something a little fringe!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness and Medical content

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jess2obsess's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Mental illness

flamingkaty's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

livcashmere's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

2.5

This book just didn’t hit the mark for me. I don’t know how you can take such an interesting concept, and make the majority of your novel boring. I found Knight’s style of writing to be very disjointed and pretentious.

I just wish this book had taken a more focused approach on the premonition bureau itself. Really, the title is a misnomer as the novel actually reads as more of a biography on the founders, rather than an exploration of the institution itself. Overall, it just wasn’t as gripping as I had anticipated.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness

lfmp's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Minor: Transphobia

Discusses aversion “therapy”

linguaphile412's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

kirstym25's review against another edition

dark informative tense fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Forced institutionalization