Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

31 reviews

yallternativeaj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

A fantastic way to tell the life of someone with schizophrenia. I loved that the captain and sea life was how the schizophrenia presented itself. It was a great feeling to piece together which characters lined up with those in the real world. The writing style was very enjoyable and set a very nice pace! We also love a hopeful ending :>

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

sunnysab's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

a_rock_to_live_under's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

my gf gave me this book and said it was her favorite, I liked it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death, Death, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

arytia's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Blood, and Medical content

graciejames's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death and Rape

tezariah's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

st61826's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Mental illness

bennybooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Incredible writing style, thinking about how the book contains the thoughts and ideas of the author’s son and late friend makes me even more emotional

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lilithreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

maryy_r0se's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

“Sometimes there are moments when we objectively face the never, and it overwhelms us.”

Caden is a high schooler. 𝘊𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. His behavior is changing. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱. His friends are distancing from him. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘵. His parents are concerned. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. He feels himself unwinding. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

This book really affected me. While compiling a list of YA mental health books for work, it was important to me to include a wide array of experiences. Most YA mental health books focus on depression and anxiety, and it’s very very difficult to find books that approach topics like psychosis and schizophrenia sensitively.

Caden is not definitively diagnosed in the story, although it does seem implied he has schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. I do not have either of those, so I won’t assess that representation. It was difficult to find reviews from individuals who have those disorders, but from the few I did find this book seems to represent them well. I do have bipolar disorder, and I thought that book really captured the extreme moods and psychosis excellently. 

I think what made this book really stand out was the input from Neal’s son, Brendan. Brendan has schizoaffective disorder and the book was influenced by his experience. He consulted on and illustrated this book, and it added a very personal element. I would definitely recommend this book. My favorite scene was the NYC flashback and the moments surrounding it; the way the book came together and fell apart in those moments was breathtaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Medical trauma