Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Case Study

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet

25 reviews

giuliawanders's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I personally really enjoyed it and I really wanted to keep reading. I liked how the narration of the stories of the two characters are intertwined. I would’ve liked to know what Rebecca ends up doing afterwards but I imagine that leaving us guessing is part of the charm of the book.

Also, the book left me wondering if it was a true story until the end. Like, so many references to real people and places!

Content Warnings

mcnuggies09's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny slow-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

velvet_young's review against another edition

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dark funny 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

4.5

Content Warnings

eri002's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

deedireads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Case Study is a quick, (I found) engrossing read. The way it explores the idea of the self and performance was also very smart. I don’t think it’ll be for everyone, but I liked it!

For you if: You like epistolary, psychological novels.

FULL REVIEW:

Longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize, Case Study was definitely one of those I probably never would have picked up otherwise. But I’m glad I did!

The novel is written by “GMB,” a fictional narrator who presents a woman’s journal entries alongside GMB’s own biography of fictional psychotherapist Collins Braithwaite. The woman believes Braithwaite drove her sister to death by suicide and goes undercover as “Rebecca Smyth” to find him out. (Braithwaite’s prevailing belief was that there’s no such thing as the “real” Self; all our various versions of ourselves are performances, and so to free ourselves from misery we have to “kill our Selves.”) We flip-flop back and forth between her journals and GMB’s biography as things become more and more unraveled.

Not everyone in my book club liked this one, but I did. I found it to be surprisingly engaging; I was drawn in and held the whole time. I also thought the parallelism between Braithwaite’s theories and “Rebecca Smyth’s” journey was smart and creative enough to not be too on the nose. There were some parts of this (which professional reviews called satire to the counter-counter culture of the 1960s) that went a bit over my head, but I’m not bothered by it.

Ultimately, this was a quick, fun one!

CONTENT AND TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Suicide, suicidal thoughts; Mental illness; Rape (imagined and off-screen); Alcohol use

Content Warnings

realbooktingz's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Content Warnings

queerloras's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This was described as funny. I'm not sure where the humour came in, but I didn't "get it" in his last book either and still enjoyed it so [shrug emoji]

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