Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Veronika beschließt zu sterben by Paulo Coelho

46 reviews

aleilvandrea's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Abandonment

cultbyproxy's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

veronika decides to die to escape the mundanity of her life. she isn’t depressed, or vengeful, or even insane. she is simply attempting to fast track what she believes will be a cyclical life of ennui, towards the one inevitable fate that awaits us all: death. despite her failed attempt, her heart is said to be irreversibly damaged. death is definitively days away, but even that prognosis will not suffice. 

she wants to die, but on her own terms.

inspired by paulo coelho’s own life, seen in brief self inserts in which he briefly relays his experience of being institutionalised three time, we follow veronika on a fresh path as she becomes acquainted with her fellow patients. if you’re looking for a plot heavy novel with twists and turns, this might not be it. with her days said to literally be numbered, the characters are the life sustaining breath that keeps us tethered to veronika’s story and her growth appears exponential in wake of the little time she has left. 

although it isn’t very plot heavy, it is interesting to see the different perspectives of certain characters, their treatment and the biases and connotations of mental health simply reduced in coelho’s style. the depictions are not necessarily world-bending, but rather a reminder of the views and philosophies that culminate into the pretence that is society. the goals, expectations and desires we squash for the sake of “normalcy”. and the sanctity and tranquility that can be found in detaching from social norms with others who all want the same thing. an escape. from mental illness, from responsibility, and even from life itself. which begs the big question: “what does it mean to be crazy?” when we’re all a little bit mad?

veronika decides to die can simply be described in the words of a random tweet i came across two months ago: “the arc of my 20s is discovering that heartbreak, sadness, and suffering are not that bad. the real enemy is ennui. i’m not afraid of bad local optima, i’m afraid of flat energy landscapes.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jhabelita's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.0

It was okay. There are nice quotes about life that I liked but nothing much of the plot that made me stick 100%. I just powered through it. Thanks to audiobook!

The story is not all about Veronika's failed suicide, it also tackled Mari's life as a lawyer and a wife and Eduard, a 17-y/o schizophrenic and Veronika's love interest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

liri_reads's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

The story began extremely promising and I loved reading about all of the main characters stories and motives, but some parts were extremely weird and irritating (yes I’m mainly referring to the author’s self-insert in the story) + maybe it’s just me but

Veronika surviving was disappointing and more predictable than her dying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Vomit

emmentalol's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

zamakodknjiga's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Stomak mi se prevrnuo od čitanja ove knjige i to ne zato što je bila gnusna, nego zato što je tako istinita. Sve je postalo još teže kad sam saznala razlog iza trenutka u kome Veroniku naziva svojom prijateljicom.

Sve vreme dok sam čitala razmišljala sam o dve stvari: "da li je ova knjiga za mene?" i "šta je to ludost?". Nije mi bilo svejedno da je čitam, a s druge strane sam zavolela likove iz knjige najviše jer sam mogla duboko da ih razumem.

Ova knjiga bu mogla da spada u horor realnosti u koji smo kao čovečanstvo zapali. I zato ne bih mogla bilo kome da je preporučim. Ono u šta sam sigurna je da je kniiga teška i da vuče na razmišljanje. I da je vredi pročitati, u svoje vreme.

Volela bih da sam maj započela malo vedrijom temom, ali definitivno mi je drago što sam ovu knjigu pročitala jer je u suprtonom ne bih uzela.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Medical content, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, and Eating disorder

Minor: Sexual content

blues's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.25

Questa lettura è stata davvero bella e di ispirazione, penso che mi porterò con me questi personaggi per molto tempo anche futuro, insieme agli insegnamenti che ognuno di loro mi ha dato.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Medical content

annsfictworld's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

I would say that the book was actually pretty good, I enjoyed reading through everyone's stories and their journey in finding purpose once again. However, it was a bit hard to stay focused, but I think that it's just a me problem, because it's also not my style of book. I've read quite a lot of physiological themed fiction and I'd have to choose them over this one. Nevertheless, I think it's a book worth reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and War

godyouresexy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

dezembrluft's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Suicide attempt and War