Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

6 reviews

chainsawheartbooks's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.5

I’m honestly not even sure what to say. 

Was this a good insight into certain gender roles and the thoughts people have when their lives become almost stagnant? Yes.

Did I enjoy it? Not really.

The first half was much better than the latter, which felt more like I was just witnessing the protagonist wander between places, and I think there’s certainly an audience for this book, I just don’t think I fall into it.

I will say, however, that it was well written; Ingalls knew how to craft a character while letting the plot follow the person, as opposed to the other way around.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I did not like this. Deeply unsatisfying read. I don’t usually rate books based on plot/ending alone, but man was that so little payoff for a seemingly interesting premise.

I liked that in the end Larry was too other, too non-human to continue functioning as Dorothy’s escape or to truly care about human life. I love when authors depict the realistic divide between humanoids; other beings have no reason to talk, think, or act like we do given their separate evolutionary path. I also liked the prose; the sentences were so crisp and concise. It felt like snack reading.

That being said, -2 stars for:
- the sheer amount of fucking salad and veggie descriptions 
- the sometimes hard to keep track of quippy dialogue between Dorothy and Estelle
- the car crash… what an unnecessarily messy conclusion to a whimper of a set of affairs
- Could Sandra have been his kid??????? GROSS
- Estelle also fucking Dorothy’s husband. her knowing who the man was and not telling Dorothy was enough of a betrayal to warrant the silly ending. The rest felt contrived 
- Dorothy finally being free of her cheating, unsupportive husband and perfidious bff, only to be miserable at home looking for a froggy fling that isn’t coming back. she has a lot to work on internally, but the book ended with her not even trying. just going through the same motions.

idk this just wasn’t my cup of tea. i got to the last page and audibly scoffed. what was the point in all that retrospection on humanity and friendship and love just to end the book sad & yearning for a frog in between haunting your uncaught sex offender husbands grave. ugh

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

Moderate: Child abuse and Death

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Forced institutionalization

another_dahlia's review against another edition

mysterious fast-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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content

blewballoon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-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? No

2.0

This book certainly affected me. I was unsettled, disturbed, and upset in the end and it stuck with me for a while. Most of the characters apart from Dorothy are almost comically awful, but not comically enough for it not to be distressing. Even during the parts of the book where pleasant things are occurring, there is a constant undercurrent of tension and dread. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol