Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

16 reviews

rhi_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Self harm, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Transphobia, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

atomicbritt's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content

c_alexander's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

(june 2024 edit: i changed my rating to 5 stars cuz this book hasn’t left my brain once)

loved this - loved the complex characters and relationships, the imagery, tone, and the pacing!

was disappointed side characters weren't further developed - especially in terms of the bipoc characters; racism is a theme explored in the book but in a really brief capacity considering its relevance

took a little while to 'pick up' but had me hooked in the second half

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent

holyschmitz's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

Woah. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

winglesswarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

frantic_vampire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am…unwell over this book. This was just fucking fantastic and I’m honestly at a loss for words for this review. Summer Sons is one of the absolute best books that I think I’ve ever read and I just want to scream about it. It’s this mix of dark academia, paranormal hauntings, and queer longing that had me hooked from the very beginning. Everything about this book was feral and unhinged and tinged with the sticky restlessness of a southern summer. And I could read about Andrew and Sam and Riley endlessly. This book is one that will haunt my dreams for a long time to come and I can’t recommend it enough. This is the easiest five stars I think I’ve ever given a book. I’m just gonna excuse myself now and go scream about it into the void…

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Medical trauma

caspian_the_pauper's review against another edition

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Abandonment

zghutcheson01's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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 really loved this book. It took me about 30 pages to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down. Without spoilers, I do enjoy how this book came to a satisfying ending without frantically rushing to resolve all of the character issues. It let the book feel like a peek into someone's life and you know things are going to change but that the hardest part is over. The nurder mystery part isn't super compelling but I honestly think that's not the main point of the book which is the character development and exploration of the supernatural which it does really well.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Domestic abuse and Transphobia

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Slavery and Vomit

bookenbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Terminal illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol