Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

34 reviews

vbsauce's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad 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: Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Truly beautiful and informative. Knocking off .25 stars because there were some threads of the narrative that felt a bit tacked on, from which I would have appreciated greater continuity. For example, I kept forgetting about

the protagonist's daughter because we would only be reminded of her every few chapters.

By contrast, in The Book Eaters, a book that felt very similar to this one thematically, you never forgot

that the protagonist had a daughter who was taken away from her.

It was a big, emotional plot point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Slavery, Abortion, and Colonisation

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, War, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Alcohol

theinkwyrm's review against another edition

inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Death, Grief, and Classism

acebooknerd_07's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

jodar's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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? No

3.25

I’m glad to have read this novel, though it feels uneven.

I enjoyed the gentle, loving daughter–father relationship, the friendships the MC Esme has with her aunts and her ‘bondmaid’, and the ways in which Esme gradually learns more about the world and herself as she grows from childhood to adulthood. I’d never say no to nerdish lexicography, either!

Confronting are overarching themes of absence – the absence of significant people, the denial of just recognition and rights – and profound loss – of loved ones and even mental capacity to cope. Confronting, yes, but with a feeling of truth in the lives lived at that time.

The attitudes of many of the characters, however, feel a bit anachronistic, more those of the liberal intelligentsia of the late 20th or early 21st century than those of the middle class of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The ending too feels forced, trying to draw a connection between the lexicographical efforts of 100 years or more ago in the U.K. and the efforts of the writer’s modern-day Australia to restore a healthy relationship with Aboriginal peoples.

By the end I think we are supposed to feel comforted by the progress humanity can achieve between the sexes, social classes and ethnic groups through the endeavours of individuals of honest goodwill. But what I came away from the novel with was loss, sadness and the ultimate emptiness of human striving alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical trauma, and War

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Classism

thumbeleia's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Infertility, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, and Alcohol

leannanecdote's review

hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

chattie_the_mad_chatter's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

A delightful exploration of the joy of words, their power, their importance and what it reveals about society with words that are left out.
A coming of age story, full of love in an unusual found family amid the Rise of feminisim as the new dictionary; the Oxford dictionary is written and published. 
Our protagonist was very easy to relate to and the Book is full of characters that you grow found of, love and wish to avoid! The historical detail and weaving of fact with fiction is exquisite, you immerse yourself in this world. Despite huge historical significant events like the Suffragette movement and World War 1, it is the words and love of words that remain, in focus and at the heart of the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Sexism, Pregnancy, and War

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I loved this so much. This book follows the life of Esme Nicoll, and her connection yo words, people and especially women and their experiences. This book is incredibly detailed, canning and engrossing. I loved every minute of it. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in words and their direct and hidden meanings, and would like to feel what it's like to live in victorian times as an ordinary woman. Amazing book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Mental illness, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Cursing, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol