Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry

23 reviews

sweetiepie621's review against another edition

reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This book was stunning. It warps your feelings in some twists and turns. I loved this book and from page 50 on I was glued. The only criticism I have is in the beginning I was finding the main narration annoying and almost "please pity me" sort of tone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, and Rape

haaalien's review against another edition

5.0

Please read trigger warnings and full synopsis before reading ⚠️⚠️⚠️

This book was so different from anything I've ever read. The reason I'm giving it 5 stars even though it was a hard read is because the author did an amazing job at making me feel things towards the perpetrator that I didn't think were possible. It was so confusing to think one way, but feel another. The chapter before the epilogue made me jaw drop, I didn't see it coming at any point of this book which is always nice. Overall I'm super impressed with the author, I can't wait to check more of their books out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

rebeccadiv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book is extremely complicated and I don't know how to feel. Check your trigger warnings before even opening this book up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Violence, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide

bjhaseman16's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I absolutely never write reviews. But I really grappled with whether or not I wanted to give this book 5 stars or 1. The writing was beautiful, but it was such a hard topic to read. I have not sobbed as hard as I did today reading a book in a long time. The end was profoundly beautiful, heartbreaking and gut wrenching all at the same time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, and Pedophilia

corywbowers's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual harassment, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Child death, Vomit, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Mental illness, Incest, Bullying, and Child abuse

_mjreads_'s review against another edition

• 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: Violence, Rape, Suicide, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

urbanstheno's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Rape

Minor: Abandonment, Mental illness, and Grief

gknott's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-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: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

kiddocut's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

3.25

This book is not for everyone. Don’t go into it thinking there is a big twist once you read what the subject matter is-there is no twist.  That’s the point.

It’s one of the most challenging and upsetting things I’ve ever listened to and if you skip bits I don’t blame you-I had to skip some final chapters to “finish” this book. <specifically those associated with assisted suicide>

I think it takes great skill to write about this subject matter in a humanizing light without excusing the actions of the MC’s son. 

The point of the book is seeing her do everything she thinks she can to save her son from his own urges-even denying the truth or hoping it’s a mistake…and how that rips her family apart.  And yeah the MC does stupid and dangerously risky things to do that-but I can’t help but understand how hard it must be with the association of someone like her son. 

I think this book does a good job with the ripples of victimhood that the actions of the MC’s son actually does. That it affects every family member and how it affects them. And I think we forget that aspect of these kinds of crimes. 

If you can stomach it, (again, it’s not for the faint of heart) the change of perspective is interesting in and of itself.  

And as much as I like that, I do wish there was like a blurb or something about the research in this book-especially when it comes to the profiling efforts. It’s well researched but i still felt left hanging. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Self harm, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Stalking, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Medical content, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Incest, Bullying, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

Don’t go into this thinking there is a twist like I did-I was mislead by a friend suggestion, there *is* a slight one, but it’s so minuscule and misleading that it’s a pseudo twist that has no affect on the MC or her son.

amieleigh8919's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, and Rape