Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Sorrow & Bliss by Meg Mason

77 reviews

epellicci's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Mixed feelings with this one. One the one hand, Sorrow and Bliss is an amazingly visceral portrayal of mental health, and a points (particularly towards the end) did make me feel connected to the main character, Martha, and emotional. On the other, Martha spends most of the book intensely unlikable, and Meg Mason's decision to not name her condition/talk about it in code gave me a sense of stigma and frustration around her journey and diagnosis that just didn't sit right.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

kindakoselig's review

emotional 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

4.0

I love books about sad women 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Miscarriage

thequeenofsheba3's review

emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abandonment and Suicide

Minor: Suicide attempt

rambling_reading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Alcoholism and Emotional abuse

helenajoy_'s review

dark emotional funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion and Death of parent

samvgass's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Pregnancy

shutupiamreading's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

So many people love this, but this really didn’t work for me. Honestly, the only reason I didn’t DNF is because I kept hoping for the story to pick up. 

I appreciate a well-written story about mental illness but this particular narrator really wasn’t for me and a lot of the little paragraphs just felt very disjointed. 

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Racism

lou_christie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Miscarriage

indralei's review against another edition

emotional 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Miscarriage, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia

abbie_'s review

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

I absolutely devoured this book, although it came at a weird time for me. Although my mental health issues are not as severe as the protagonist’s (which are undiagnosed and later unnamed), lately I have been struggling lately with my depression, anxiety and suspected PMDD, which I finally sought help for and have been put on some medication. I don’t feel up to talking more about that on here just yet, but I think the timing did have an effect on my experience with this book, in that I related hard and loved it so very much and felt a lot of emotions while reading!!

.

I loved the writing here, it’s super snappy, filled with humour, but it doesn’t make light of Martha’s issues. The characters feel like they lift right off the page, and I loved how Mason explores how Martha’s mental health affects those around her. It explores her fraught relationship with her mother, her beautiful relationship with her father (seriously that one almost made me cry), her rather up-and-down relationship with her sister Ingrid, and of course her husband Patrick. Patrick was such a sweetheart, literally loved him so much, and the dynamic between him and Martha broke my heart, particularly how Martha felt like she was nothing but a burden on those she loves. But if you think Martha has healthy coping mechanisms well 👀 get ready for some mess. Martha also comes from quite a lot of privilege - she is white, cis & straight, middle class and her aunt regularly bails her family out of hard times (her mother is a sculptor, her father a failing poet), so occasionally I was kind of like… not everyone can *afford* to act the way she’s acting right now 😅

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Struggling to put any more thoughts to paper right now, but just read it if you’re in the mood for a raw, witty, heartbreaking portrayal of one woman’s struggle with mental illness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt