Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle

15 reviews

himynameismichael923's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.75

The strength of this book is its characters. I couldn’t help but adore so many of them. It also has a really interesting plot. Man locked up in a mental hospital, even though he has no business being there. It turns out the hospital is haunted by some sort of devil. Interesting enough, but what I didn’t expect was how much of a critique of the mental institutions in America. That’s a story worth telling and I appreciated that the author went there. The downfall is how much the middle portion of the book drags. It’s way too long, and feels like the author had a minimum page quota he had to pass. The beginning and ending are fantastic, it’s just the middle that brings the book down. I definitely still think it’s worth the read, for the commentary on how we treat mental disabilities in the country. It’s heartbreaking, and the author captures that perfectly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

3.5

I love Victor LaValle’s writing, and the commentary in this one was super strong. It just seemed a bit long, though it kept my attention throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Ableism, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Body horror

babyfacedoldsoul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

This book was extremely well done. However the subject matter itself (forced institutionalization) was brutal so sometimes I needed to take small breaks between sections. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

daniielaph's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

A wonderful book. I 100% recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

walrus420's review against another edition

• 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: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Police brutality

elsebeok's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Blood

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, and Deportation

shannonbauchat's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault

unboxedjack's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

I adored this book, it's very dark in that the horror isn't so much the monster but the treatment of the mentally ill at psych wards, but it's also very funny and the characters and their interactions are great. It just has a lot of heart and you can see what a labor of love it is. Also one thing I loved is how you don't get the diagnoses of any of the characters, the summary on here gives one for a character but I genuinely don't remember it being mentioned, the book focuses on how these are people, not diagnoses or case studies

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Police brutality

Moderate: Gore and Mental illness