Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Ward D by Freida McFadden

37 reviews

luna_98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

very suspenseful and the twist totally got me. this is one of the few books that i was actually scared while reading so i consider that a win for a thriller lol 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse and Drug abuse

rachel_jones03's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, and Murder

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

I liked this one fine, and it had the patented Frieda McFadden twists. But god damn, you would think this was written 40 years ago for how it talked about mental health! Super judgy and exclusive terms about people being crazy and unstable and like animals. It felt like McFadden had never met a mentally ill person. Folks in overnight facilities are all trying their best. No one wants to live with a brain that tortures them. Everyone is deserving of care. And I feel like if one of Amy's doctors had read this book, she would get a severe talking to about how she refers to mentally ill patients. Also, she needs to get her head out of her ass about this whole I-was-dumped-for-a-test thing. People make mistakes! They get really stressed about life-changing tests and they screw up their priorities! But don't spend the whole book

hating your ex and then suddenly feel all bad when he's dead.

McFadden has written female characters that were way easier to support than Amy.

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Content Warnings

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

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

my favorite by Freida Mcfadden!!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

grace33's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

daydaybookbay's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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

I rated this book a 9 out of 10. I loved this book. It'sfast-pacedd and keeps you on edge waiting for the next shoe to drop. Although I figured out the twist in the first half, the ride there was so much fun. Will definitely read it again!

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).

I do like that there was no redemption arc for her, though. Sometimes, having a bad guy just stay a bad guy is so freaking satisfying.

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Content Warnings

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

literarywhore's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Murder

adeavila's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Dementia

azure_ecllpse's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

Thriller aspects were great. Finished this book in two sittings with the way it kept me on the edge of my seat - however, the lousy (arguably harmful) depictions of mental health and even addicts were really off putting.  This is the first book I’ve read by this author as she’s been highly recommended to me by many friends. I do hope to find the rest of her works don’t have the same problem. Mental health stigma is still a very real problem, and fictional portrayals contribute to that stigma so much more than we think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis