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darlaslays's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I found myself getting super irritated at the numerous times the word, “crazy,” was used. The main character, Amy, is super unlikeable and dense. She’s supposed to be a third year medical student, but she doesn’t know a lot of basic information that you would already know as during undergrad, such as “sundowning.” She is clearly not very smart, so I don’t know how she made it into her graduate program. By the end of the book, it appears that
I almost didn’t finish this book due to how the topic of mental health was covered. I also couldn’t suspend my disbelief on the unrealistic aspects of the ward or healthcare in general. I did appreciate when they sort of acknowledged that mentally ill patients are still people too.
Amy is very immature and has a terrible take on mental disorders. It does get reconciled in the end, but that reconciliation does demonize people who have schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. As someone with bipolar II, I felt irritated that the condition wasn’t accurately portrayed. I’ve had one horrible manic episode with psychosis and several hypomanic periods in my life, but it never led to violence on others. I wish it was clearly depicted that the mental disorders and the violent actions taken by the characters were separate issues.
The writing was clunky at times, and it read like a YA novel. Nothing wrong with that, but the characters certainly didn’t seem like they were mid-to-late twenty somethings. They felt more like teenagers. I definitely cringed at several lines sprinkled throughout the book. At other times, I loved the descriptions of the events unfolding.
All that being said, the twists were fun and interesting, albeit it left the story with plot holes. Focusing on them too much would have just taken my enjoyment away. I can see why people are a fan of McFadden’s writing overall. This is likely not her best work, though.
It’s a fun time, just don’t set your expectations high for realism and be prepared to roll your eyes at the main character’s inner thoughts and actions.
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism
The violence isn’t gratuitous, but people are restrained and beaten, brutally killed, or found dead.fableworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
insideunder's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
aahrobot's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment
libbijade13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Medical content, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Eating disorder and Injury/Injury detail
k8lynn's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
courtnetto's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This book centres around Amy, a medical student, who is doing a night shift on the psychiatric ward (Ward D). Except, Amy knows one of the patients that are on this ward... we meet an array of characters along the way, some of which just suddenly disappear without a trace, but why?
Amy is working with her ex-boyfriend, Cameron, which she is not at all happy about, especially after the way that he dumped her. We also meet Damon, who is believed to be in Seclusion One for being an extremely dangerous person, except not is all as it seems. We also meet Jade, which is the person that Amy knows, as this was her kindergarten best friend! Jade ends up going down a completely different path to Amy, hence why she ends up on the psychiatric ward...
We also meet Will, who is a reporter for a local newspaper and is pretending to be dealing with schizophrenia just so he can see what really goes on in the ward after hearing different people's reports of the things that go on there. Except, Jade makes Amy believe that Will is her boyfriend, is a compulsive liar and can't be trusted. But we soon find out the truth and Will is actually a very honest person and not the compulsive liar that he was made out to be.
We also get flashbacks to eight years prior to this day on the ward, where Amy reminisces about times when Jade has tried to make her do things she doesn't wish to do, to the point Amy has gone to the police about a crime that Jade has wanted to commit. Which plays a part in the reason why Jade is in the psychiatric ward.
This book is really the roller-coaster of emotions and I just couldn't put it down!!
Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Drug use, and Death of parent
daydaybookbay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Reasons I couldn't give a 10 out of 10 rating is mostly how I predicted the ending. There's only so many twists you can create in a locked psychiatric unit. Also, I feel the mental illnesses are very generalized. There's a lot of diversity in reality, but the depictions here were very Hollywood-esque.
This is my first book by Freida McFadden, but it definitely won't be my last. I have heard many good things about her other novels, so I am super excited to read them in the future as well.
I love how easy it is to throw off the reader. All the characters are in a psych ward, and the main character questions her own sanity from the get-go. Every single person's credibility is demolished since Chapter 1. With no reliable character, there is a wide open playing field for the story to travel. Because of this, the storyline has no clear path, and it's easier to mislead the reader. I love it!
Jade took me by surprise multiple times. Her character was all over the place (obviously).
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
alis143's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail