Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann

40 reviews

alliereadsabook's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Self harm, and Kidnapping

bookish_leigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This book missed several rounds of editing because HOW on God's green earth did this get picked up by a publishing house.

If I was reading this on fanfiction.net in 2016 this would get 5 stars. 

The start of this book was ok. But in hind sight, I must have been swindled by the suspense and trauma to miss how mediocre the writing is and how annoying Cora is. 

For the writing, it's good quantity fanfiction AT BEST. So juvenile that, at times, I completely forgot that the characters are touching 30. And Miss Corabelle is no better than the next 17 year old. The only silver lining is that the dialogue and emotions flowed clearly and seamlessly.

For the plot, I really like the kidnapping concept and everything that came with it, but everything that came after was a mess. I wish the psychology of Earl (The Matchmaker) and his victims were expanded upon but no such luck. 

For the characters, everyone outside of Dean and Cora were an after thought. The parents were TOO hands off after their daughter and future son-in-law was just kidnapped and brutalized for weeks. At some point, after Cora tried to unalive herself, the mother mentioned wanting to give her space....seriously😑. The lack of attention on Cora's mental health is CRIMINAL. This book could have been a medium to create a dialogue around mental health but failed miserably. 
Mandy is a victim of biased writing. She was made to seem like the mean girl of Cora's life from the beginning with out any standing. Only to paint Cora with the "not like other girls" persona...she likes books and pranking Dean...it was never that deep. 

Y'all on Book Tok stay exaggerating.

Plot: 2.5/5
Writing: 2.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Spice🌶:2 out of 5 forgettable, and hard to rate given how much I disliked this book
Overall: 2.5/5⭐

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexual harassment, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Violence, Rape, and Mental illness

jordiemooon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Alcohol, Blood, Self harm, Murder, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Rape, Violence, and Sexual violence

emmab_124's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Self harm, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

volatile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

siffpedersen's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Alcohol, Grief, Miscarriage, Violence, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

jcsmith95's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Murder, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, and Violence

natashareadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

Still Beating follows there story of Dean & Cora as they navigate through being enemies to something more. 

Dean is engaged to Cora's sister Mandy, on the faithful night Cora calls him for a ride home from the bar. Cora and Dean prank, and tease and bicker one another, but when Dean shows up to help Cora out, everything between them changes in a blink of an eye. 

They wake up chained in a basement together, now having to rely on one another to survive. But as the hours turn to days & the horrors of that dark basement transpire, the lines between them being enemies begin to blur. 

This was a dark, emotional but beautiful story of Dean & Cora relying on each other to survive. It may have been dark, twisted and dirty, but it was emotional, raw & there was beauty in characters coming together after experiencing the horrors & near tragedy that they survived. 4⭐ out of 5⭐. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, Kidnapping, Rape, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

sammymilfort's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Body horror, Animal death, Blood, Self harm, Rape, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Murder, and Emotional abuse

lifeofmavsgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Confinement, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt