Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

31 reviews

sweeterthanfiction's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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: Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Violence, and Blood

paperquilt's review against another edition

emotional informative tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

aheartofsunflower's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-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? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Racism, and War

lilly_anne's review

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense 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: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

danajoy's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

michelejenn's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Child death, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

albanana's review against another edition

emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Islamophobia, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

iamondrea's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Violence

Moderate: Death and Racism

durrareadsstuff's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

I'm a Malaysian, and the only thing I knew about 13th May was that it was a bloodbath fueled by racism and it was something I used to include in my essays about unity to make me sound smart. I don't recall anyone really talking about it and I was too much of a coward to find out for myself. Although it took a while, I'm glad I finally read this book. Besides covering the incident itself and the racism issue behind it, the author also did a fine job—in my opinion—writing about anxiety, OCD, and the stigma surrounding mental illness in Malaysia. Even a half-century later, the things mentioned in the book is still quite prominent. That, to me, was all too real and just devastating. 

All that aside, I'd say Melati's character development was done amazingly. However, I do think that the arc was a little bit rushed in the end. I think it's important to create a narrative that is able to incite feelings from the readers, and the author did just that. I felt sad when she mentioned her family or her OCD (god knows how many times I cried), worried when she thought of her mother, or when she thought someone saw her counting, and I was rooting for her all the way. The thing that awed me most though, was Frankie's arc. I like that the backstory was also included so we can sort of understand where all the hate is coming from.

Even though they didn't really become friends afterwards, but I think  he's come along way, and that's such an important thing to include in the story, how it's not too late for people to see sense and stop hating each other.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

Minor: Bullying, Fatphobia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Vomit

mellvynm's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense 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

Moderate: Mental illness