Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Wager by David Grann

10 reviews

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative slow-paced

2.75

Narrator Rating: 4.0 stars

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mcbrantley's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

4.0

Well handled and harrowing, this narrative take on a true 18th century shipwreck and mutiny is a riveting read after the first half. 

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skitch41's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

4.5


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intoblossom's review against another edition

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dark informative tense medium-paced

4.0


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koboldmartian's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

5/5. 

I do not really have any good experience reading non-fiction so forgive me if this review is not as eloquent, but this was the most gripping and fascinating non-fiction story I have ever read. David Grann's writing is so immersive and clear and painted such a vivid picture of the turmoil, and horrors that these men were put through. 

The book is structured beautifully, it flowed well, I was angry at people, I sympathized with people, I was disgusted by what they did or what they had to do, I was all the proper emotions needed to read this book. 

This book was so educating and the life that people had to live back then on the ocean is just absolutely terrible. The entire time, I felt pulled by both "parties" involved in this stories and I don't think you can really blame anyone of the decisions made in this situation; it really makes you think about what you would do put in these men's shoes. 

I will be picking up Grann's other works to read and this book has opened the floodgates for non-fiction for me. I hope to read more especially if they are this engaging. 

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cait's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious sad slow-paced

3.5


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sampcupp's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0


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daughterofatom's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.0

I enjoyed this. I appreciate the authors non judgemental perspective, never casting blame or guilt on any party, and keeps first hand accounts of native people in perspective. It's a tale of mutiny and horrible situations, but you never think "dang what a villain", you see the motivations of each party and are given ample details about the people to not just see them as pawns. They all had families at home they hoped to return to, some were on their first voyage, some were seasoned enough to doubt some choices. Great read for anyone looking to learn about 1700s seafaring, British navy shenanigans, or for folks looking for empathetic compelling tales of souls stuck in a true no win scenario 

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ecourtis's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.5


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alisonvh's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative fast-paced

3.5

This book is well written and has a fascinating subject, but it just didn’t grab me for some reason.

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