Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee

185 reviews

aneges's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.25

Liked a lot the writing and the atmosphere. I like the fact that there is care in the writing and the descriptions to create the atmosphere without weighing down the story too much, especially considering it is YA. 

The premise was also quite intriguing, we got a glimpse of the past of the school which gives horror vibes, some mistery about what happened which will be slowly revealed and also mentions of the occult and magic in a magical realism way.

Throughout the story it’s not clear if the magic is real or not and this was handled really well and added a lot to the tension.

The characters were well developed and had the right depth to them and there was also some representation of mental illness which was good in my opinion. 

The plot was not the main point of the book but it was mostly there to guide the narration of the exploration of the characters and atmosphere.

For my liking the ending was the weakest part of it as some things happened that even though it raised the tension it lost something on the mystery and atmosphere side. 

There is less mistery obviously but also less vagueness on the occult side and even though I kind of hoped that it would end up being all on her mind I hoped that it would leave the doubt.

The ending was a bit underwhelming perhaps, it seemed almost like the author didn't know how to close it properly, especially the epilogue 3 years later didn't really add that much. 

Overall I enjoyed the character arc of Felicity and I liked how she wasn't good and didn't even feel particularly bad about it (not because I think it's right obviously but because it's still fiction and sometimes it's refreshing to read about bad people).

I would say the book overall deserves a solid 4.5 (or even slightly more) but this ending makes me lower it a bit. Despite this it was still not that bad that it makes me regret reading it and I'm glad I picked it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Murder

iphigeniad's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A psychological thriller in sheep's clothing. Went into this one expecting actual ghosts and magic, and it was a wild ride. Big plot twist - I agree the third act felt rushed, and I would have liked to spend more time with Leonie and Kajal, the only characters of color in the book. Other than that, wow, this was a knockout punch of a mindfuck. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Alcoholism and Suicide

sylexlibris's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

gmat's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Grief

jesliwen's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

holy shit the last hundred pages of this book is CRAZY and the best part,, but some of the representation is questionable and honestly i was confused often. so basically lesbian dark academia but i have no idea what’s going on half the time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Alcohol

Minor: Racism

solarel's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

At some points in this book I thought I was able to predict what would come next but I was always proven wrong. It kept me in a state of shock at every step with plot twists and reveals. 

With the subject of high school girls, it makes sense that it read like a YA. At some points it felt like it was almost pretentiously trying to be adult, but that’s also on theme. The prose felt like it was trying too hard at times to be dark and edgy, but overall the vibes were very spooky academic. 

Definitely a page turner. I enjoyed it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content

klpage's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Such a good read for autumn and spooky season! This is the kind of dark academia I like! Witchy, dark magic, a bit of a psychological twist thrown in with the characters too. 

Loved it! Definitely recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

vagrantheather's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-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

A spooky dark academia with an unreliable narrator. Lots of fun. I do think the characters are much too well read for teenagers - they all speak academia fluently and have fixed thoughts on concepts and authors unknown outside of the realm of academic literature - would have worked better for me if they were in university looking forward to Masters programs. In general they just aren't at all young acting. And the way all of the adults in the background tacitly permit smoking, drinking, and a total lack of supervision, seems to me more like college than a pricey boarding school full of academically inclined socialites.

But those gripes are minor and in general I loved the mood, setting, writing, moral flexibility, and disconnection from reality. It was a lot of fun to read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Outing

fionamatilda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting