Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Zugvögel by Charlotte McConaghy

40 reviews

karwc's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

lgoconno's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Abandonment

Moderate: Death and Suicide

Minor: Sexual harassment

masihludmila's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

kalizahira's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

I enjoyed this from both a writing style and a plot perspective. A sweeping tragedy, the book somehow managed to include enough hope to make it not just a purely depressing read. I liked the casual mention of queer characters and the impact of humans on the environment without them being the main focus. I really appreciated the narrative voice that didn't shy away from the reality of mental illness and bad decisions, without making the character so unlikable or one-dimensional that you couldn't relate to her. I think it was very well handled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide

Minor: Child death

zas9's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Murder

lauramcc7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

I have sort of confusing feelings about this book. I waffled between giving it three or four stars, but the last third of the book really hit hard for me, so I landed on four stars. This is a pretty brutal story, involving a character who has suffered immeasurably and dissociates quite frequently, leaving you with a disorienting feeling and not knowing quite what is going on. That's presumably meant to mirror Franny's confusing relationship with reality, which ends up feeling pretty profound by the end. This is a really sad story about climate change (you can't think too hard about the worldbuilding because it really doesn't make much sense) and about a person who wants to die but wants to die free. I didn't love this one as much as Once There Were Wolves, but I do find McConaghy's insights about life really moving.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

serena_hien's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pregnancy

thatsssorachael's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, Abandonment, and Alcohol

jakirby's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Abandonment