Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson

19 reviews

maggiegirouard's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

really good, I actually wasn’t able to predict pretty much anything that happened which normally I can, so that was exciting because I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen next, which made it fast-paced and quick to read. Clever, interesting how all the details connected and worked out. Really good representation of anxiety. Some really good, well-written, original lines. Personally I think this was the best of the 3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Body horror, Violence, Alcohol, and Classism

ladyfrecklles's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

the ending both surprised me in a good way and a bad way. i’d like to think that if i were a tad bit brighter i would have seen it coming, but at the same time, i’d like to also think johnson was just trying to tie up loose ends. 4.25 regardless because i had fun reading it and that’s what matters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Mental illness

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark 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? No

2.0

This was terrible. I invested three books worth of time and money for THIS???????

Already, the culprit of the original mystery being Marsh was disappointing, not because I had predicted this from book one, but because money isn't an interesting motive!! It sucks!! And then Johnson goes and makes it the motive for the MODERN murders too???? And the murderer is a bare sketch of a character at that??? And also, it turns out Alice died of measles???? Did someone say massive cop out??? And then Stevie doesn't want to present the evidence about Alice's real parents, because that way the money stays with the school. With a PRIVATE. SCHOOL. Set up by a BILLIONAIRE. And people go on thinking Alice is missing instead of paying her respects and letting her rest. Other annoying things include: nothing actually happening in this book and a lack of tension despite the really interesting premise of being snowed in on a mountain in the middle of nowhere; David suddenly being okay with Stevie; Frankie and Eddie serving no purpose or character arc beyond hoarding evidence for future Stevie to find; and finally, the random moose motif that doesn't mean anything. The only thing saving this book from a one star is that it was borderline entertaining and creepy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Child birth, explosions, adoption, loss of a loved one (friend, aunt), illness

book_aesthetic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, and Blood

goodgraces's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide

coolbeancat's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

isagomezs04's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, and Kidnapping

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

sunsetcity's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

I think this one was my least favorite of the three books in this series, but I still enjoyed it. I liked how mystery wrapped up, but the parts that took place in the past were a little repetitive in this book as a lot of it had already been revealed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping

hansbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders