Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

17 reviews

passionatereader78's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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

4.0

Enjoyable read! I liked the overall writing. I loved the young Zelda and her carefree lifestyle.  By the end of the book I didn't like the way Scott treated Zelda.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, and Infidelity

Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

lauramcc7's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infertility, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, War, Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Addiction, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

This was really fun! Of course it’s historical fiction and we will never really know what exactly Zelda experienced, but I love her. I identify closely with her struggles and loved walking through her whole life with her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Sexism, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Abortion, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Classism, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

mezzano's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Mental illness, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

chasingpages1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death, Grief, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: War, Abandonment, Blood, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Infertility, Cancer, Dysphoria, and Racism

bobbeym's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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

3.0

I enjoyed this book, but I wanted to love it much more than I actually did.  The story is told strictly from Zelda's point of view, and provides an interesting fictional account of what her life with husband F. Scott Fitzgerald might have been like.   I'd love to read some biographies of her life because my impression was that Scott took advantage of her youthful naivety to turn her into a living character, only to later resent her for it.

I give this a 3/5 stars but I'm not sure it's something I'd recommend unless someone was looking for something similar or asked specifically about this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, and Alcoholism

hayley_mariep's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Violence, Misogyny, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Violence, War, Abortion, Chronic illness, Death, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

hunkydory's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Death, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Suicide

woolgatherer's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

2.5

The Fitzgeralds were messy people, and Fowler definitely captured some of that in her novel. I was expecting Fowler to take creative liberties with Zelda Fitzgerald’s life, especially since this isn’t an actual biography. There were so many opportunities to get imaginative, so I was surprised that she ended up taking a more conservative storytelling approach that really made this novel fall flat.

I was also surprised and disappointed that Fowler rushed through a critical period of Zelda Fitzgerald’s life, which was when she was admitted into a sanatorium. This was also the period when she wrote and published Save Me by the Waltz, which would have been interesting to explore.

This was a mediocre and somewhat forgettable book. I’m rather disappointed that it was nowhere near as complex and colorful as Zelda Fitzgerald’s life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Homophobia and Infidelity

Minor: Abortion, Death, and Domestic abuse

hannahdelaware's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Homophobia