Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - A Danger to Herself and Others

An incredibly well-written instance of a mystery that is more of a mystery to the protagonist than to the reader, although it is mysterious to the reader, too. I think the unreliable narrator is so good and that it’s written with care and with thrill and it makes me think like it’s a real person telling me her real story.

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booksofautumn's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

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childoflokii's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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dalmavatai's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Hannah is such a great character to follow - she's smart, opinionated, with a distinct voice and a super interesting inner monologue. I loved spending this book with her so much! I also loved the writing style, this is such a well-written book with many thought-provoking insights. I will say that I did at times feel a bit claustrophobic reading this book, this is definitely not a book to read in one sitting as there is very little dialogue, we are just inside Hannah's head listening to her thoughts most of the time. At times I wanted a bit more of her relationships, especially her relationship with Lightfoot, as I thought the way that that developed was really great. I do also think that due to the nature of this book it got somewhat repetitive (as you're listening to Hannah's thoughts while she's institutionalized and barely talks to anyone). Apart from these small things though, I loved this book and is probably my favorite so far this year!

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daffodildyke's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

I found this book very interesting once it got going, and was able to pre-empt plot twists but not in a way that made this disappointing. There were some passages that spoke strongly to the self-doubt and reflection I have experienced with my own mental illness.

It is an interesting approach to telling this story and having Hannah as an unreliable narrator of her own story was impactful. However, it felt obvious at times that the author had probably not experienced significant, chronic mental health issues (and from a bit of searching online it generally seems that assumption is correct).

My biggest complaint regarding that is the same reason I am currently struggling with the abruptness of the ending. I suppose that's fairly fitting - reminiscent of the abruptness with which Hannah learns the truth about Lucy. But the ending feels rushed after a long and detailed approach throughout -

I don't think having the sensationalist self-harm, putting on new meds and then almost immediately discharging despite not monitoring whether they will help does justice to the rest of the story, because even in the authors note, the author points out that this was probably not realistic

I do wish we had an epilogue of some sort, just something of Hannah accepting the changes she may need to make and finding her own ways of surviving and thriving following the events of the book. I think the things I want to see in the epilogue are testament to my experiences with mental illness.

Some examples are maybe her learning how her meds can improve certain parts of life, seeing how her friendships change following her diagnosis and medication, engaging in good talking therapy where she can process both her hallucinations, but also the experiences she had growing up. I wish that she'd been shown to have more ownership over herself at the end, rather than the rather cliché thing that if you are psychotic the only way you can express yourself and exert control is by going off your meds

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shereadytoread's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

It's boring? The whole book basically takes place in the hospital where she's convinced she is "normal" and we need to figure out if she's reliable or not. I think my issue is the author creating a book about mental illness and institutionalization and then stating at the end that it is not meant to educate people about either subject and the stuff that happens in the book wouldn't really happen. So what was the point? About half the book seemed to just be fluff that is not really relevant

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