Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Headmaster's List

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Headmaster's List by Melissa de la Cruz

5 reviews

aseel_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

I gotta admit, the plot twist had me gagged?? Jackson being a whiney guy?? Did not see that coming. But I kind of hated the podcast and how fake classist and exploitative it was. I also didn't like how no one really stepped up and checked in on Spencer like she was taking so many pills, someone should have checked her and also sent her to therapy for her PTSD. Did love the dog tho

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bashsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

2.25

This book really made me both sad and mad because I deeply enjoyed it for a good 80% of the text. I felt like it dealt with the topics of true crime podcasts and PTSD very well. I enjoyed Spencer a lot as a main character, and Ripley the service dog being clutch all the time was great rep. HOWEVER, this book is ultimately a mystery, and nothing irritates me more than when I can't figure out the mystery because the author gets their details confused -

one major plot twist is that Jackson Chen cut the breaks of Ethan's car to steal his spot on the Headmaster's List, but early in the book, it is confirmed that Jackson was already on this damn list (that's why he gets paired to help Spencer), making this clue seeded later in the book distracting and contradictory. De la Cruz is not an indie self-publisher, and I cannot believe her editors missed that. Also, the plot twist of the reckless rich kid actually being good and the guy with the criminal father being bad was not great either.

I'm so disappointed.

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aimeeannbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

de la Cruz has written so many amazing characters throughout her kidlit novels. She writes diversity, and she writes personality. In THE HEADMASTER'S LIST, she tried so hard to write diversity, that she took it a little too far.
Tabby is a non-binary character. However, half of the book shines them as a villain, and the other half of the book forgets them altogether. They are even misgendered twice in the story.
Spencer is a woman of color. However, she is told by Hailey that she cheated with Ethan because of Spencer's "minority perks". Hailey is jealous, because as a blonde white woman she has had to work hard for the things Spencer was simply handed "on a silver platter". Ethan never broke up with her because he didn't want to "seem racist". It is an insult to people of color who do work hard for what they deserve.

The plot line of THE HEADMASTER'S LIST was enjoyable. There were two plot lines, one which I missed and the other that I knew was coming. It was a good story for a thriller. Had the characters not been written so insensitively, I might have enjoyed it more.

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a_libra_library's review against another edition

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emotional tense slow-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

2.0

The longer I think about this book, the more I realize I didn't like it. It would've been better if Melissa had taken the easy way out with plot twist - see spoiler tag if you want to know- Also Spencer being a Bipoc character didn't seem so important and it was used as an insult? Nothing made much sense.

The best friend was the killer instead of the boyfriend whose girlfriend was paralyzed at a party a year before. Ethan was supposed to die but the sophomore did instead? How messed up would it have been if the his brother was the reason he died? Anyways the author made it way too complicated

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I LOVED Ripley, the mental health service dog. But the rest of the book was a bit of a letdown. I knew who was driving from almost the beginning and the author made it semi-obvious, which was annoying. I did like that there was more to the accident though.

I also liked the part around her use of Vicodin, though I was surprised her parents as veterinarians didn't catch it sooner and trusted a 17 yr old with opioids with zero oversight. Which seemed a bit of an oversight by the author.

I hated who the bad guy was because I really liked them before that. But I'm glad Ripley defended her and didn't end up hurt/dead in the end.

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