Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary

25 reviews

internationalreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0


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ruby_the_gem's review

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The toxic ex-boyfriend and the abusing relationship Tiffy had with him was too much for me to handle right now. How much he, his relationship with Tiffy, and the mental health problems he caused Tiffy come up is deceptively often for a book that is a romcom. Anyways, be forewarned that if obsessive, toxic ex-boyfriends and relationship trauma are triggering for you or make it difficult to consume a piece of media, this book is not for you.

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capybooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t perfect, but I think it is definitely worth a read if you enjoy the forced proximity and friends to lovers tropes. I like that the chapters were shorter, and I absolutely adore how Tiffy and Leon communicate via post-it notes. I didn’t expect Leon’s brother’s storyline, but it was a nice surprise that gave the novel more depth. This book had a lovely ending. I hated how Leon’s chapters were written, even though I can appreciate it reflects how he is as a person. My least favourite characters were Kay and most definitely Justin. 

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valeriabee's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

You know I expected something completely different with this book. 
I am glad nonetheless that I've read it. 
I wasnt sure how to feel about it, if I really liked it. However, I couldn't put it down and when I wasn't reading it I was thinking of the characters and their goings-on. 
Is it a romance? Yes, but it's a lot more of the long twists and turns of falling in love. 
It is also about healing from an emotionally abusive relationship. My colleague is conveniently teaching about abusive relationships and I couldnt help but think how some excerpts from this book would serve to help our students see and understand how emotional abuse works. The emotional abuse was brought up throughout the whole book, but given that the book only spans 8-9 months and Tiffy was abused/manipulated for years, it makes all the sense that it would come up frequently. 
This book handled the reality of abusive relationships and how they affect the people around you so well. 
I especially love that Leon did not save her from the abuse and he did not magically heal her. We see Tiffy do the work of remembering the manipulations she endured and attempting to heal from them. We see her give herself permission to love again. Leon and Tiffy are unexpectedly perfect for each other, especially because they gave each other the kind of love and support they needed to rather than that which they wanted -- that doesnt make sense. They did not act on their own selfish wants, but loved each other in a way that was best for the other.
I loved that Tiffy and Leon had their distinct narration styles. Too often we see similar styles of internal monologue. Everyone thinks and communicates differently, it only makes sense that it would come across in their narratives. 
Also can we talk about how they leave each other little notes around the flat. Im a bitch that loves post its and it made me want someone to leave notes to with all my postits. 
There is so much to love about this book and I am so glad I've come around to reading it. 
It makes me feel warm and fuzzy at Tiffy and Leon's love. It also makes me painfully aware of how lonely I am.

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laurawoods13's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-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

3.75

It’s a bit of a slow start and the way the author writes Leon is horrible - fragments and leaving out words all over the place. It takes a very long time to get used to and it was completely unnecessary. All that aside, the story definitely picks up about halfway through and the ending is pretty solid, but you have to work a little to get there. 

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mandaraffe's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

Liked this much better as an audiobook. It made the MMC’s parts feel more natural than when traditionally reading them. 

Original reason for DNFing: The MMC's point of view chapters were written very strangely (sentence fragments, weird grammar, clunky). The FMC's chapters were totally normal rom-com chapters. The juxtaposition was bizarre and I couldn't get into it.

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lucimolri's review against another edition

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

4.0


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oliviafaye's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring 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

4.5


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sh_georgia_aw's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved reading this book. O'Leary has an interesting writing style which helped to distinguish between characters. I enjoyed picking up the book to read how the characters were developing through the novel. Would recommend this book to my friends.

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hannahgreep's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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