Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

329 reviews

ashanderson's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

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

3.0

This short story is a true classic and worth a quick one time read. It's written almost like diary entries told through an unreliable narrator suffering from postpartum depression in assumably the early 1800s. As a treatment to her physician husband's diagnosis of hysteria, she is not allowed to write, think, or do relatively anything. The narrator's thoughts are intriguing and almost amusing with the vivid descriptions of the yellow wallpaper through her hallucinations.

 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement and Mental illness

peasandpancakes's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

This was on my to read list for a while. I started reading it after finishing Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, of which many people said it had some parallels with The Yellow Wallpaper. Really enjoyed it and it gives some proper food for thought. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Possibly hints at

suicide

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

zoelindsey's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

sarahbsews's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

michayla13's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Mental illness

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

fantomina's review against another edition

reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

monsty's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

audiobookish's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This is a fantastic short read that perfectly illustrates women's mental health in a misogynistic/historical context. It's the stuff of psychological horror, making for a fast paced read. It's a classic for a reason, it will leave you thinking.

The protagonist slowly descends into "madness" or rather, what we would most likely categorize today as depression with psychotic features or perhaps schizoaffective disorder. The subtle changes in the inner monologue of the protagonist show how easily mental illness can shade your reality to the point where you only believe your paranoia or delusions. Seeing the yellow wallpaper shift from something ordinary but repulsive, into something dynamic but scary, and then finally into something comforting and alive ("I must rescue the woman in the walls!") reflects the changing mental landscape of our protagonis. The wall, then, ultimately becomes a projection for her internal state.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Minor: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

mikathereviewer's review against another edition

informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

After deciding to read it, but didn't for about four times I finally read it. I wasn't sure when the right time was to read it. But I'm pretty sure that this book is about Schizophrenia, a mental illness that I think to be quite interesting. 

The book isn't that long, but that is what makes this book perfect. It doesn't just gives the reader a good message in few words, but also symbolises how fast a mental illness can take power over you before you see it coming. The wallpaper and how it was described was very interesting. While reading it got more and more intense. Showing how much faster the Schizophrenia spreads into the brain, when something triggers it.

"The color is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing."

As someone who thinks that mental illnesses (especially the hallucinating ones) are interesting to know more about I enjoyed this book a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Self harm, Suicide, and Medical content