Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Minha coisa favorita é monstro by Emil Ferris

11 reviews

bravelass85's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I really struggled to like this book. I wanted to but I found it hard to focus on it given the dense way it was constructed and the lack of redeemable characters. It was hard to read. Maybe something redeeming in pushing myself to read it, but I’m not sure. Jury is out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and War

orlagal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective relaxing 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

readingpicnic's review against another edition

5.0

The book equivalent of eating a really nice meal. It’s so full of so many concepts, characters, and interlocking stories, but the author brings everything together so well. The formatting is also so unique with it being in a lined notebook, and the artwork was truly incredible. The queer main character drawing herself as a wearwolf was also an excellent nod to how wearwolves are often a metaphor for queerness. Some parts were pretty heavy, and I cried A LOT, but it’s worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Blood, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Murder, and War

bigmouthsass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad medium-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

Absolutely incredible. A masterpiece. The art is stunning, and the stories are so important. It covers some heavy topics, so be sure to check content warnings as needed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Trafficking, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Genocide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Blood, Toxic friendship, and War

cmcrockford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Mostly pretty astonishing, I've just never read a comic quite like this even with the occasional narrative hiccup. A real achievement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Rape, and Violence

owlribbon's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racial slurs and Rape

nmcannon's review against another edition

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? No

5.0

 Back in…2019…I read this amazing blog post by Casey the Candian Lesbrarian about the best books she’d read that year. My Favorite Thing is Monsters was on it, and I put it on my TBR, so future!Natalie would remember. Future!Natalie came through.

Karen Reyes is a ten year old girl obsessed with horror movie monsters. With bullies, a best friend lost to homophobia (still alive, but heavily forced into the closet by parents), and the stress of working class ‘60s Chicago, she has a A Lot to process. And that’s before her upstairs neighbor Anka is murdered, her older brother becomes the prime suspect, and her mom gets a cancer diagnosis. Trusty sketchbook and fedora in tow, Reyes decides to figure out whodunit. What she doesn’t bargain for are tapes of Anka telling her life story in Nazi Germany, rife with parental abuse, rape, and pedophilia.

The entire, hefty book of My Favorite Thing is Monsters is styled as Reyes’ journal and sketchbook. The art is GORGEOUS. The book is art and art is the book. I was reminded of coffee table books, which are set out to entertain guests. Then again, the subject matter is not for the light of heart. Ferris pulls no punches, and her heroine’s lives are dark. A serious dead dove; don’t eat situation. I thought the story would focus more on the intersection of queerness and horror, and it does to a certain extent. There’s just a whole lot more. Anka’s flashbacks take up more pages, which makes sense because Reyes is ten and Anka died in her fifties. While Anka and Reyes are twin pole stars, the other characters aren’t neglected at all. The depth of character is truly incredible and incredibly colorful.

Despite the grim subject matter, there’s a thread of youthful hope throughout the story. If you can grasp it and hold tight, I highly, highly recommend Ferris’ masterwork. My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a beautiful, heart-wrenching magnum opus.

Casey’s blog post: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/my-2018-year-in-reading-favourite-books-of-the-year-most-memorable-character-best-cover-and-more/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, War, and Deportation

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

I'd say the majority of the CWs are period-typical considering the setting is pre-Holocaust, Holocaust, and 1960s working class Chicago. Reyes is a young, queer woman of color, and she experiences period-typical racism, lesbophobia, classism, and misogyny.

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2nd read, 2024: Liked this even more on a second read. Caught so many more Easter eggs and throwaway jokes and just found a lot more meaning in it.

1st read, 2022: This book isn't perfect, but it's perfectly captivating, and now I'm among the legions of fans (im)patiently dreaming of Book 2. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Vomit, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Saneism Minor: Nonconsensual drug use

acciobecks's review

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and War

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful! The content is very difficult. It is a lot of sadness upon sadness without much respite at all, expect in a few small places.

The characters are very interesting and I really enjoyed reading about their stories. I know that parts of this are inspired by true events.

I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder