Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

17 reviews

katewhite77's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

A Gripping Yarn

Shamefully my first Atwood in decades. I now know what all the fuss is about as she can certainly write beautifully and I won't be leaving it so long before trying some more of her work. 

This novel is based on true historical events and tells the story of Grace Marks an infamous murderess (or was she!) of the 19th century. 

I certainly learnt a lot about religious beliefs and practices of the time and the changing attitudes towards mental illness. 

However I did find some aspects of the sub plot a little hard to believe but maybe that was all part of Atwood's plan to add an extra layer of very dark humour to the story. I will leave it up to you, the potential future reader to decide.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Misogyny

yolanda_h's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Pregnancy

jolibon4e's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

Rarely is there such an unreadable and boring book. To be honest part of it may have been that I had completely different expectations but I am very disappointed. Truly I have no idea why the points of view were constantly changing, why was there so much description of random stuff that did not amount of anything. Like, the only thing I get from the book is that men are inherently sleazy and evil and all women ever do is suffer. Sure, but I don’t need 400 pages of this, there is nothing profound in that? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Rape, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Fatphobia

katievh's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Confinement, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Abandonment, and Alcohol

g_monaghan's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

theinfinitebookcase's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Abortion

alannah_m's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would! Although it could easily have been a book of half the length I think. I went back and forth with the core mystery throughout the narrative, but I actually spent more time reflecting on Grace's upbringing and her narrative voice, which is really strong. 

Pet Theory for this book: MARY WHITNEY ISN'T REAL

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma