Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Watchers - Wissen kann tödlich sein by John Marrs

4 reviews

effy's review against another edition

3.75

I was somewhat disappointed by this book. I think it was possibly off to a rocky start as it answered some of the questions left from The One which I had liked were left open to reader interpretation. I also would have liked some acknowledgement of the backtracking of the ending of The One. I suspect I would have appreciated this book more if I had re-read The Passengers prior to picking this book up as it chronologically occurs between The One and this book.

Overall I don't think that it was a bad book, it just didn't quite deliver to the same standard of Marr's other books. Overall most of the characters I didn't really care for so following their stories was less compelling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Miscarriage, Car accident, Suicide, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Grief

rinku's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

 I’m so divided when it comes to The Minders. On the one hand, the main idea was so intriguing, and all the characters were interesting but on the other hand, it lacked some depth and didn’t always make sense.  

Five people are chosen for a special program where they are trained to become minders. This means that a piece of DNA is hidden inside their head which has all the secrets in this world kept. This premise was so good, and I love how we as the reader also don’t get to know the secrets but only some fragmented pieces that the characters make reference to. I can’t talk too much about the rest of the plot without spoilers, but it shows us how differently the people deal with the situation – and most of this is quite dark and sad. But what I can tell is that my least favorite story line was the one around Bruno since it was so weird how he

becomes a serial killer and starts to imagine people. Yes, it is explained why this happened, but I still didn’t like it. It was also so sad how he had to abandon his autistic son for the program

. 

The first half of the book was not as good, since it’s quite slow and even boring in some parts. For example, the training for becoming a minder is not shown which would be so interesting. In general, the book dealt in a provocative way with contemporary topics, but some plot points were a bit cliché and predictable. Also, can we talk about the book page called Readwell were the main characters communicated with each other? I loved it lmao. 

After the first half, the book became better and even more disturbing with

all the deaths, like Sinead’s (I felt so sorry for her how no one was listening to her), Bruno’s (I felt sorrier for his son Louie than for him tbh), and Charlie’s

. Sadly, the ending itself didn’t make so much sense and was not satisfying:

Apparently, Emilia was the killer and everything else was just her imagination. She also was the creator of the program and killed herself in the end. I just don’t know which message The Minders wanted to send with this ending since it means that all the deaths were basically pointless

. 

The Minders made me interested in what other books Marrs has written since they take place in the same universe but this one just lacked some things for me to be more than a good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Gun violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Car accident, Violence, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Torture

12grace4's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

whatsjessreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Car accident, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

This book spoils plots from The One and The Passengers, so don't read this book if you haven't read those.