Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

133 reviews

starsiren's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

Didn't get what I expected, but what I got was great!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

holy_moly_colee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This was a book filled with unexpected events and a lot of unanswered questions (and I don't know if that was a good or bad thing). It brought together schizophrenia, exorcism, documentary/ reality TV, teen angst, and deciet. I still don't know if the sister was pretending, mentally ill, or possessed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Suicide, and Murder

add_a_little_spook's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

tertain's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

WOW!!! What a book!!!! The build up and the subject matter and the characters and the framing? Wow. One of my favorite books so far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Sexual content

There is one scene in this book that is pretty sexually explicit, but only one. Its a

masturbation

scene, made me pretty uncomfortable, but it didn’t ruin the book for me or anything.

princess_marie's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Death, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

carlylikethetvshow's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

One of my favorite books and also one I've re-read. I really like when horror books are a play on popular movies or books in pop culture. I also am a sucker for a plot involving a reality show/found footage/etc. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness

is it a demon or is it mental illness?

jaedia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

jessicalarson125's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Self harm and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

epeolatrist's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

I can't believe I convinced myself into starting this book at 1 am. I won't lie and say that I'm not easily scared (because I am), but horror novels typically don't rattle me. A Head Full of Ghosts, however, had me on sleeping with the lights on. The novel is as terrifying as it is mysterious--throughout the entire story I couldn't tell whether Marjorie was genuinely possessed or simply an extremely ill teenage girl who needed help. It kept me on my toes while I read every page. It's impressive, to me, to read writing that gives no hints as to what is true and what is not until the end. There were moments when I predicted whether Marjorie's actions were demonic or schizophrenic, but each time I decided, I would change my mind.

I really enjoyed A Head Full of Ghosts (even if it kept me from sleeping). It was a fast and interesting read that scared me to my core. I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to read this in my 100-year old childhood home which I've always thought it to be "haunted" (but can you blame me for having an overactive imagination when I read books like this?) I won't spoil the ending for you, but I was amazed at how Paul Tremblay was able to make my jaw drop all the way to the floor. I genuinely loved this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Self harm, Vomit, and Death of parent

k20m13d's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder