Reviews

Sorrow and Bliss, by Meg Mason

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sarahgrace's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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

4.0

anickson's review

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emotional funny 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

starswirlsheart's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

this was entirely frustrating and therapeutic. i think every time i read a good book a part of me heals. i love when a book is full of crazy characters. the way each of them were described made me like all of them. there were many times in this book were people were yelling at martha of basically being like “STAND UP!!!!” and i felt so called out it made me want to cry. at first i was kinda disappointed maybe a little offended that her diagnosis wasn’t explicitly named but i grew to appreciate it. i love this book so much. it made me feel so seen even if my episodes are not as extreme and i’m only 19 with no life experience. i love this book so much.

felicjk's review against another edition

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5.0

Laugh-out-loud hilarious and equally completely devastating… I felt sick with sadness for so much of it but I just couldn’t put it down.

I loved how she conveyed the messy beauty of family though: such hope and humour and regret and love.

Also, Ingrid is brilliant.

shutupandreadthis's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

emmab85's review

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emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

For the majority of this book I felt like I was missing something. It’s critical acclaim suggests it may indeed just be me. Reviews state a dark comedy element to some of the event descriptions but i found myself too irritated to pick that up.

There was some clear skill in the rating the impact of long-term mental illness on the person and persons around them. To not name the condition would have been more effective if it had not been continually alluded to for the majority of the novel and therefore came off as gimmicky not clever.