Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

23 reviews

hxppyhxt's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

2 Stars instead of 1 because I really enjoyed the first half or so of the book.

Far too long of a book. I really enjoyed the first half or so of the book, then I got to the point where I was like there is still half of this book to read and everything in the summary has been done. And the random capitalization in words was so annoying, I thought they would spell something (especially when the author set this up to be the case with 

Spoilerthe journal) but spelling them out in many places was just fruitless. Very frustrating. I decided to DNF after an entire chapter of the uppercase nonsense where I spent so long trying to decode it only to get something along the lines of "HIMEEEEEEEIEEE". So many "hE". I thought that maybe it was intentional to just refer to a specific character in this way, but then even within the chapter it was not consistently "hE", sometimes it would just be a normal "he", which blew that theory out of the water. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to figure it out but honestly it got to the point where I didn't even care enough to figure it out.

Some of the twists were well set up so that you could figure them out or at least get a sense that something was amiss. Others felt completely random and felt like they had virtually no setup or foreshadowing.

SpoilerI don't mind some religious undertones, but in this case it really felt like two different books. The first half really had very little indication that the plot was headed towards a Christian allegory, and then in the second half it just felt like "and guess what, this is Satan. Oh and this? Yea she's actually the Virgin Mary. Oh yea, this is God. This is the Tree of Good and Evil. This is Eve, you know from the garden of Eden? And this is literal Hell" and on and on. I feel like setting it up more at the beginning would have made it feel less random.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Blood, Torture, Pregnancy, Suicide, Body horror, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

theimposter's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Confinement, Physical abuse, War, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, and Medical trauma

Minor: Dementia, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Cursing, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Chronic illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

directorpurry's review

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Child death, Violence, Bullying, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

dez02's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I will start off by saying that anyone who is sensitive to triggers, or is easily upset/disturbed should not read this book. 

This book primarily focuses on children and the mess of their families. It is detailed and intense. The author describes many horrible things that happen to these children. I would say it is not for the faint of heart. 

I found myself having to take a break multiple times. Having to sit back and just take in what I read. 

That being said, the book was beautifully written. It's in 3rd person (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong), so we get the opinions of every character that we can. We see what goes on in their heads and how they get manipulated by "The Nice Man". 

It shows just how fragile humanity can be, and how with the flip of a switch, everything could come crumbling down. Just a little whisper in someone's ear to send them down the wrong path could be the catalyst to ruining their lives. 

Although the topics of the book are dark I did enjoy reading it. I recommen it with caution. Think about your own mental health and decide if you are in a steady place to delve into something dark. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Blood, and Car accident

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Rape, and Pregnancy

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Cursing

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content

sarahkmcl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Scary!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Self harm, Pregnancy, Death, Child death, Body horror, Physical abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Torture, Gun violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Car accident, and Blood

linneak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Violence, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Physical abuse, Stalking, Alcoholism, Bullying, Gun violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.25

I'm so conflicted about this one. This is so far removed from what I would normally read, but I love TPOBAW so I simply had to. The beginning was really the highlight for me. That was the height of the mystery and horror elements. The unknown possibilities were more interesting than how it was actually written. I'm glad I read it and maybe I'll even read it again sometime to give it another chance, but right now I have very mixed feelings.

On one hand, this book has an incredible ability to suck you in and keep you reading. Given the length of the book, I thought it might be more slow-paced or take its time on the exposition, but I was pleasantly surprised at how instantly gripping it was. It was very emotionally engaging and affected how I felt even when I was not actively reading it. At turns, it is scary, disturbing, sad, funny, and endearing. I was interested in the themes of generational trauma, cycles of abuse, and society's complicity in the evil of a few that allows suffering to spread.

On the other hand, I didn't enjoy the religious overtones of the latter part of the book and the reveal was something of a disappointment. It was grand in scale but not in emotional resonance for me. Sometimes plots of such cosmically huge proportions lose their impactfulness for me because they feel less personal. The very ending, in particular, I don't like.

The depictions of mental illness aren't the best. This is in line with part of a larger issue with the horror genre using mental illness as a plot device. There's also a very positive and uncritical depiction of a sheriff, which seems out of touch with the reality of the role of law enforcement.

Spoiler

Maybe it would have benefited from some subtlety. Metaphorical gods and devils are often interesting to me, but a war between the literal biblical God and the devil is sort of boring to me. Maybe if I believed in God or the afterlife this would have meant something to me, but as is it just doesn't and I almost feel it takes away from the theming that I do enjoy.

The subplot of Mary Katherine's virgin pregnancy is annoying. The book ending with the implication that the baby will grow up to be the next pawn in the nice man's plan to escape Hell is such a disappointment. Despite the huge scale of the conflict, the resolution doesn't seem to reach that level of importance. Sure they escaped disaster, but it is only a temporary solution to a problem with no end in sight. I didn't expect them to kill the devil and rid the world of all evil or anything, but they didn't do anything to stop or change the cycle, they just created a slightly happier ending to this one circuit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, Torture, Kidnapping, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, and Child abuse

Mental health-related triggers are the biggest ones. They use a lot of common horror tropes like: not being able to trust your own thoughts; paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions being real; being constantly watched; the world ending; everyone but you and those close to you being crazy or out to get you; etc. which were upsetting to me, and I don't even have particular mental health reasons that make them triggering to me.

buecher_und_huehner's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Dementia, Murder, Addiction, Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Blood, Bullying, Medical content, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Suicide, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Pedophilia

abbyg007's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Death, Car accident, Child abuse, Dementia, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Suicide