Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

31 reviews

reclusivebookslug's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.25

I'm so conflicted about this one. This is so far removed from what I would normally read, but I love TPOBAW so I simply had to. The beginning was really the highlight for me. That was the height of the mystery and horror elements. The unknown possibilities were more interesting than how it was actually written. I'm glad I read it and maybe I'll even read it again sometime to give it another chance, but right now I have very mixed feelings.

On one hand, this book has an incredible ability to suck you in and keep you reading. Given the length of the book, I thought it might be more slow-paced or take its time on the exposition, but I was pleasantly surprised at how instantly gripping it was. It was very emotionally engaging and affected how I felt even when I was not actively reading it. At turns, it is scary, disturbing, sad, funny, and endearing. I was interested in the themes of generational trauma, cycles of abuse, and society's complicity in the evil of a few that allows suffering to spread.

On the other hand, I didn't enjoy the religious overtones of the latter part of the book and the reveal was something of a disappointment. It was grand in scale but not in emotional resonance for me. Sometimes plots of such cosmically huge proportions lose their impactfulness for me because they feel less personal. The very ending, in particular, I don't like.

The depictions of mental illness aren't the best. This is in line with part of a larger issue with the horror genre using mental illness as a plot device. There's also a very positive and uncritical depiction of a sheriff, which seems out of touch with the reality of the role of law enforcement.

Maybe it would have benefited from some subtlety. Metaphorical gods and devils are often interesting to me, but a war between the literal biblical God and the devil is sort of boring to me. Maybe if I believed in God or the afterlife this would have meant something to me, but as is it just doesn't and I almost feel it takes away from the theming that I do enjoy.

The subplot of Mary Katherine's virgin pregnancy is annoying. The book ending with the implication that the baby will grow up to be the next pawn in the nice man's plan to escape Hell is such a disappointment. Despite the huge scale of the conflict, the resolution doesn't seem to reach that level of importance. Sure they escaped disaster, but it is only a temporary solution to a problem with no end in sight. I didn't expect them to kill the devil and rid the world of all evil or anything, but they didn't do anything to stop or change the cycle, they just created a slightly happier ending to this one circuit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

Mental health-related triggers are the biggest ones. They use a lot of common horror tropes like: not being able to trust your own thoughts; paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions being real; being constantly watched; the world ending; everyone but you and those close to you being crazy or out to get you; etc. which were upsetting to me, and I don't even have particular mental health reasons that make them triggering to me.

buecher_und_huehner's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

angryoppossum's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

that many pages for a shit christian allegory - not worth reading
only finished because i was too far in
the book definitely did not need to be as long as it was

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Dementia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Torture

abbyg007's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy

fate_of_ansley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, and Murder

eternalbutt's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence and Alcohol

madinhoa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

seawarrior's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

The strongest merit of Imaginary Friend is how it remains equally engaging page after page, which was a relief, since there are nearly a thousand of them. Chbosky's effort developing his characters is a key factor in the story's power. Lore wise, I was somewhat disappointed once all secrets were revealed, yet I was still satisfied reading Christopher and Kate's fight against evil. 

It's difficult for me to gather much more to say about the book since it's so expansive, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to others. I did think the horror was written well, but the true source of it felt trite to me and I'd really been expecting something more original. If you do read it please review the list of content warnings, which is nearly as long as the book itself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sandpiper22's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, and Dementia

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Torture

kait_sixcrowsbooks's review against another edition

Ya know, for the most part I was really getting into the book — I thought the premise was really interesting, and I liked the characters well enough (except for the entire subplot/premise that the MC’s dyslexia is magically cured and now he’s “””smart”””, and the ableism surrounding Ed and his “nickname”).

However, about 40-45% of the way through I was starting to get a bad feeling about the different allegories, so I decided to look up spoilers, and I ended up being right. If you’re wanting to read this book for spoopy horror, and not some weird Christian “good vs evil” tripe, look elsewhere. If I knew what I was getting into beforehand, I would’ve steered clear of this one.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Dementia