Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying

13 reviews

alexus_sb's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Eating disorder

Moderate: Death of parent and Mental illness

bunix's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad 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

4.0

This graphic novel was much different from what I expected. I got rather emotional in the end as I somewhat relate to her story. The novel was a book that showed me that sometimes the flaws of parents aren’t intentional and that sometimes it can just be their form of showing us love. Even through all of this I really enjoyed the story and like how they made the story about her without using romance/crush to be a big part.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Mental illness

Moderate: Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, and Body shaming

Minor: Death of parent

serendipity421's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Vomit, Mental illness, and Eating disorder

tahsintries's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Death of parent

befrazzledenby's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

As someone who's struggled with an eating disorder for most of their life, I was pretty disappointed by this graphic novel, which was a surprise. It was so fast-paced, and felt so shallow but also way too deep at times, like the pace of the novel couldn't contain the intense emotionality of everything happening in the plot/character. It just didn't feel realistic or very human to me. I've had patrons rave about it, though, and the illustrations (colored pencil, I think) were really lovely and fit the theme. The pacing was too off for me, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Eating disorder, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Child abuse

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Mental illness, Fatphobia, Grief, Gaslighting, and Death

robinks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

A very real story, not just about disordered eating but I really resonated with the nuances of Val’s relationship with her mother and how it is explained. The illustrations and color scheme were also so beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Grief, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death of parent and Vomit

themoonkestrel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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: Eating disorder

Moderate: Mental illness, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, and Vomit

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

challenging emotional lighthearted reflective 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

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Vomit, and Body shaming

charmainelim's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I think this is such an important book for young women to have, particularly in Chinese culture.

We're often thought of as petite and thin, but it's unfair and unreasonable to expect well over 500 million women in the world to all be the same size. Bodies change as hormone change and that needs to be accepted.

While I never struggled with an eating disorder or an outright unhealthy relationship with food, I did have thoughts about whether skipping meals would help me "maintain" a certain weight that was really me being underweight. It wasn't healthy, but it meant I was "thin."

I wish I had this graphic novel when I was younger. I wish my friends had it. I think some of us would be a lot better off if we'd known more explicitly that it was okay for our bodies to change and that it's nothing to be ashamed of, even if culture says otherwise. Culture is the one that's wrong here, not us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, and Body shaming

Minor: Vomit