Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

12 reviews

fdap's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I was a little disappointed in this, I think it could have been shorter, and there’s a lot of just straight exposition instead of dialogue. The mystery and premise were good and the characters were pretty solid. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Ableism, Animal death, Death, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

singalana's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Kirjan kuvaus oli sen verran hämmentävä, että en oikein tiennyt minkä tyyppistä kirjaa olin alkamassa lukea: onko tämä jännityskertomus, salapoliisikertomus, romanssi vai kummitusjuttu? No, oikeastaan tämä on vähän niitä kaikkia.

Kirja sijoittuu 1940-luvun sodanjälkeiseen Englantiin. Kirjan päähenkilö, tohtori Faraday kutsutaan hoitamaan sairastunutta palvelustyttöä rappioituneeseen kartanoon. Faraday tututstuu perheeseen ja saa pian huomata, että kartanossa tapahtuu kummallisia asioita.

Tunnelmaa rakennetaan vähitelle ja se kantaa läpi kirjan. Kirjailija on onnistunut toteuttamaan mysteerin niin, että lukijan epäilykset säilyvät loppuun asti. Teosta on vaikea kuvata ilman että paljastaa tarinasta liikaa, mielestäni se kannattaa ehdottomasti kokea itse avoimin mielin. 

Tässä tarinassa on elementtejä, joista monet lukijat eivät välttämättä pidä, joten lista niistä spoilerilinkin takana. Mielestäni kaikki nämä elementit olivat kuitenkin paikallaan tässä kirjassa ja sopivat hyvin yleiseen tunnelmaan ja siihen, mitä kirjailija todennäköisesti tavoitteli.

• Kirja on yleissävyltään ahdistava, melkein masentava.
   
• Kirjailija rakentaa tunnelmaa hitaasti. Itse nautin tästä, mutta osa lukijoista saattaa olla sitä mieltä, että kirja on turhan pitkä ja tekstiä olisi pitänyt trimmata.
• Päähenkilö tohtori Faraday ei välttämättä ole samaistuttava hahmo. Hän tuntuu "gaslightaavan" hahmoja. Lisäksi hän painostaa perheenjäseniä tekemään asioita mitä he eivät halua.
• Kirjan loppu jätetään eräällä tavalla avonaiseksi. Jos tällaisista lopusta ei tykkää, saattaa loppuratkaisuun pettyä.

Kansi: Kirjan kansi voisi olla parempi jos ylimääräiset elementit otettaisiin pois ja jätettäisiin vain kartano ja värimaailma.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

micallab's review

dark mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

lay_kone's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

nikii_js's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense 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

2.5

Personally, not it for me - I had to read it as part of an assignment. The writing style is good, but i think the writer kind of missed with this one. I kind of thought the overall storyline was slow and slightly convoluted to me & the narrative style just felt quite dull, and stopped me from being able to enjoy the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death and War

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma

katsmedialibrary's review against another edition

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

saltedsnail's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death

sofipitch's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

Pretty boring and predictable for a haunted house story. I didn't much care for any of the characters, no strong feelings one way or another, the horror elements weren't strong

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Mental illness, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death