Reviews with content warning for Addiction - And Then She Fell

Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

38 reviews

ana_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This story was really fascinating and I totally wasn't expecting the twist in the last 15-20%!

Alice's character is really interesting to me. The blending of her dealing with the guilt from losing her mother, the fear she has about her own mother-daughter relationship with Dawn, the connection and support from her cousins and family - it makes for a character who I have so much empathy for.

Like I truly wanted to yell at Steve any time he mentioned that they needed to do things for themselves to "be good parents" - like... stop cutting your wife off from her support network dickhead.

She is trying to process so much all on her own and it's a little bit heartbreaking watching it get worse at every turn.

It was honestly really stressful reading along as her paranoia mounted, consistently made worse by all the racist behaviour/microaggressions she faced and was trying to navigate around.

When she started suspecting that even her own family was in on the surveillance, I was genuinely upset. Watching her struggle, as she knows she is not doing well and yet can't reach out to anyone for help because she is so aware that any failing will be heightened and potentially used to take Dawn away from her - it's just. really sad.

It would be so easy to chalk up a lot of her reaction/response to things just to postpartum psychosis, and while I do think mental health is a major factor in this story, it's impossible to deny how justified some of her paranoia is when you look into Canadian history and our treatment of Indigenous people.

Initially, I didn't feel great about the style switch up in the last quarter or so of the book, but by the time I finished the story, I really can't think of another way for it to go.

I was expecting some type of confrontation with Steve and to not have that happen, for him to kind of be a non-factor to the ending was really surprising!

While it maybe wasn't the most dramatic conclusion, it did feel very fitting thematically and even a little bit peaceful, which was really nice considering how stressful other sections of the story were.

Overall, it's just a great read.

Content Warnings

eagoldberg's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense 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

Content Warnings

kylieqrada's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

4.0

Harrowing depiction of perinatal mood disorders and more specifically postpartum psychosis. Also loved learning more about Indigenous lore.

Content Warnings

javafenn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

This book was tough and I almost didn’t any to finish it but I’m glad I stuck with it. The book is heavy and also incredibly confusing for a good portion of it but it’s all clarified with the final 1.5 hours of listening time. The final part really brought everything together and wove Alice’s glaringly obvious mental illness with her ability to traverse her people’s stories and legends. The book is heavy though. She clearly has postpartum psychosis which is finally mentioned towards the end but even as the reader you think maybe she doesn’t sometimes. It’s a book you need to be in a secure headspace for but it’s a good book. The ending was great and I’m ultimately glad I listened on.

Content Warnings