Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Veronika beschließt zu sterben by Paulo Coelho

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

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: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Suicide

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

aphrochilds's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

prehistoricfern's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders

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, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, 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: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

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

elio_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt

koinia's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts

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

Minor: Suicide attempt and War

xlaurareads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-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

3.75

it took me a while to get into this book and grasp what it really is about but in the end i really liked it. it gives a lot food for thought and reflection about various topics (e.g. life, love, death, mental health). there's a lot to understand and reflect on in this short book, but that was greatly done by following a relatively clear red thread. I'm not per se okay with what dr. igor does/did in the book but i can see where he was coming from and where he wanted to go. the ending was a bit too loose for me but i still liked it in a way to leave it to one's own imagination

to veronica when she finds out that she won't die too soon and how everything will turn out with eduard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Moderate: War