Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

28 reviews

fri3d_kai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book kinda hurt my soul and I almost cried on the tube, but I couldn't put it down so...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

trvreooo's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

The prose of this book is definitely the highlight. Ozeki does so much interesting voicing and writing. The way she articulates the thoughts of different characters is masterful. The articulation of grief is downright hard to read at times, usually in a good way. Handling of difficult subject matter was not always my favorite, but not awful. I felt like the end was a bit abrupt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Sexual assault

orlagal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

thursdd4y's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

2.5

The ending was lovely, but this book felt 200 pages too long and I really started to hate picking it up. Personally a lot of it could’ve been cut and made everything a lot more powerful and engaging, because at times it felt tedious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

futuretreeman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I was in my favorite bookstore when we found each other. It's kind of a hole-in-the-wall used-book bookstore. But the hole goes surprisingly far back and the precariously leaning bookshelves touch the ceiling. It's a magical place that never fails to house several books I'm interested in. It was the first place I visited when I moved to college and the last place I visited when I dropped out.

Just like the book-within-the-book "Tidy Magic", 'The Book of Form and Emptiness', flew off the shelf to me. I was in the middle of several projects about homes and objects, the way objects feel and the way they make us feel and the memories they help us make. I even wrote poems about forks and spoons and napkins.

I was also beginning some self-discovery at the time. My dad died too when I was a little kid and after years of ignoring how it hurt, I finally started to recognize how it really made me feel and who I had turned into.

By the time I finished the book, I had gone through other changes too. I learned what a terrific friend I had been in college, unreliable, apathetic, and exactly the kind of person I had always feared becoming. I went through back-and-forth stages of putting the blame all on me, all on my friends, and realizing we all had roles to play.

I've felt much like Benny. I even feel like Annabelle as I write this review.

The certainly hasn't changed my life, and it will take far more than words on a page to heal my hurt and the hurt I've caused others. But this book has had a marvelous impact on me. I sometimes find myself wondering if a hot pan burns because it is angry at you for hurting it by putting it in the oven. But my family hasn't read this book and they'd think I was crazy if I said it out loud.

If you've read the book, you understand.

And if you find a book that makes you feel this way, listen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Blood, and Alcohol

rainbowarpaint's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying

livcashmere's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

katieconklin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

2.5

This book is an interesting concept and does a great job expressing how grief looks different in all of us. However, I basically had to force myself to read it because of how slow paced it is, and the fact that I didn't like any of the characters. The entire point of the book was character development, yet almost all of the character development was brushed over in the last 2 pages of the book in a sort of montage way. It's thought provoking and sends a good message, but is overall just too long and dry for my taste.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, and Police brutality

warning_about_sophie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

Incredible and deeply moving. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Fatphobia and Racism

madeleinebay's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Police brutality