Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

90 reviews

phoebe_reading's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Injury/Injury detail

lauramotta's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Self harm

bwray1's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault

stabilesero's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

I have a soft spot for books that contain characters with mental illness, and Ozeki worked magic with Benny's character. Very few authors are able to portray the harrowing details of living with mental illness, and she absolutely hit the mark. 
Benny and his mother's story is one of grief, struggle within society, expectations one puts on oneself and society's expectations; as well as all the things including growing up, community and belonging. 
I loved this book so much and I really didn't expect to. It had been sitting on my tbr shelf for so long because I feared it's size but it was worth it. It's definitely not going to be for everyone, but between the crows, jazz music, B-Man and all the other intricate details of this book; this was my book to a T.
I will absolutely be picking up more by Ozeki.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

gensz's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Minor: Drug abuse

giralka's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I think this book has a similar tone to Johnathan Saffran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in which both the characters are grieving the loss of their fathers through a tragic event. The coping mechanism kicks in differently for the two of them. The story here also focuses on the mother’s grief of losing a husband while also trying to keep it together for Benny’s sake. I like that we can see that she’s clearly struggling to cope and to get better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug abuse

itsbumley's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual violence

cymbopogon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

I'm still not sure whether I liked this book or not.

It was much darker and heavy with psychological issues than I was expecting.

I did not particularly enjoy having insights from the Book + interruptions from Benny + Tidy Magic (Kondo method but by a zen nun) in addition to the book itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, and Forced institutionalization

desheebasara's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

This book already had me crying by page 14, it was really not what I expected and surprised me in a positive way.

It lost me a little bit in the middle, but not in a way that made me put it away.

I really really enjoyed Ruth Ozeki‘s writing style, pretty sure I have never read anything like it!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bostonienne's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Violence, and Death of parent