Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

69 reviews

boomwormbrittany's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Still Beating follows Cora and Dean who have despised each other since high school but Dean is engaged to Cora's sister and is stuck with Dean. When they are kidnapped together by a serial killer called The Matchmaker, they find themselves having to overcome trauma together and grow closer.
This whole book was so heart wrenching and was such an exploration of pain, grief and healing. This book had me crying and I felt my heart being ripped apart. However, I absolutely loved this book.
This book is messy, painful and really hard to read at times but I flew through it when I had a chance to just sit and read. Dean and Cora are absolutely broken and end up in a cycle of trying to heal while also still hurting. It's so hard to watch them end up in a toxic cycle together while also trying to heal each other. Dean cares so much for Cora and she cares for him and it's so hard to watch them struggle to try to get better.
There are actual tears in my book because it made me cry so hard at times. The beginning of this book, part one, is so hard to read because it's such an awful situation to end up in and see characters go through. The rest of the book is about healing and learning to live with trauma which I greatly appreciated. Jennifer Hartmna's writing was so perfect for this story and it's clear she tried to handle this with so much depth and compassion.
I really loved this book and it has earned a place on my favorites shelf. I would say to be aware of the triggers in this book if you decide to pick it up and know that this is a hard read. I thought it was absolutely worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Miscarriage and Panic attacks/disorders

marisabenn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Oh my goodness. My heart. It was shattered and put together so many times while reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Dementia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

samestelle's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

cozyreader9752's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

jess_bee's review against another edition

challenging 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

0.5

This book was so shit 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

deanademuth's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Book review: Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

Perfect for you if you like:
Dark romance
Forced proximity
Forbidden love
Childhood enemies to lovers
Trauma bonded

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I won't spice rate this story because it feels insensitive

I LOVED THIS STORY IMMENSELY.
It was extremely dark but also so beautifully written. It was heartbreakingly toxic but in the absolute best way possible. I couldn’t put this book down. I needed to know what happened in their love story. I haven’t felt this way while reading a book in a really long time.

The character development and growth on an individual basis and together was beautifully written. I found my heart breaking and being put back together over and over again.

This story isn’t easy to read, it’s tragic, traumatic, and soul crushing, but the love is so strong. The hard parts of this story were written subtly but in such a powerful way.

I hated Mandy. That’s all.

Please check the TW before reading this story for your own safety!
TW include: SA, mental health, suicide attempt, abuse… etc.

I would recommend this to certain friends.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

christene_littlelibrary's review

dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

Still Beating is a dark romance with a lot of trigger warnings. But what I like about this book is how they conquered their trauma together in a non toxic way. I loved the story. How they survived the tragic event and still ends up together and to be happy. They totally deserve it. Such an amazing book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

alis143's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

I never cry reading books and this book made me cry. I was reading in public when it made me cry too 😭. It has AMAZING PTSD representation. RUN to get this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

kristinlovallo's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm and Alcohol

tiffticer's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• 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: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt