Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

23 reviews

jpt007's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is a masterpiece. It’s been years since I’ve had the chance to read it but after coming across a reel in Instagram I decided to seek it out.

Characters- 5/5*
Beautifully fleshed out. So much so that at time it’s very painful. I just wish I could give Kaden a big hug but I doubt that would do much good. Every character is so deep (pun intended).

Conflict- 5/5*
I don’t cry when reading books very often. I cried. I don’t know how Shusterman is able to put it to words so effortlessly but it was exactly right.

Plot- 5/5*

It shouldn’t have been that enthralling but it was. I did not want to stop reading it. Not even to get my sleep.

Setting- 5/5* 
Well developed and cryptic when it needed to be. The way he blended the two world together was seamless.

Theme- 5/5*

But it’s not going to happen today—and there is a deep, abiding comfort in that. Deep enough to carry me through till tomorrow.

Overall Score: 5/5⭐️

Read this book it is to good to not read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Vomit and Suicide attempt

epohlig's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book was great! I really appreciated the perspective it provided on mental illness, especially Caden’s, since it can be so easy to fear and ostracize those who are different from us, even if they’re just trying to survive. 

I also enjoyed the two storylines and how

as they converged,

there was a blend of reality and imagination (that might not be the best word choice - sorry). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm and Suicide attempt

ms_sarah621's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Incest and Sexual assault

ghostwitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Self harm, Rape, and Torture

ecravens's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Rape, and Suicide attempt

yaelaed's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Medical content and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Suicide

arytia's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Bullying, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Addiction, Blood, and Self harm

jojo_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body horror, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Ableism, Death, Grief, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

breedawnwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

5.0

“Sometimes there are moments when we objectively face the never, and it overwhelms us.”

When I read this book for the first time, I literally didn’t know what to do with myself. Neal Shusterman’s words had touched me so deeply, so honestly, that I didn’t know how to step back into a world that pretends mental illness is a myth. This book made me feel so understood, even though I only struggle with an anxiety disorder and not something as heartbreaking as schizophrenia. 

That’s really the only way to describe why I love this book so much: it makes me feel SEEN. It makes me feel like mental illness is SEEN. It reminds me that there are still people out there who get it and understand and care.


“I know I have been a victim of many things beyond my control—but in this moment, in this place, here is something I have the power to choose. There are no miracles here, the parrot had said—but neither is there hopelessness, no matter what the serpent wants me to believe. Nothing is inevitable.”


Reading it a second time, especially aloud, only emphasized my feelings. It sounds cheesy, but there really is something truly powerful about this novel. Caden is such a beautifully written character because not only is he incredibly – INCREDIBLY – flawed, he allows the reader to explore how devastatingly, how painfully, human he is. 

How devastatingly, how painfully, human we all are.

And how possible it is to crawl back toward the light and the blue sky when Hopelessness and the Abyssal Serpent watch inches away, ready to devour you the second you give in and whisper that you can’t go on.

Caden Bosch is a fictional representation of the battles fought every day by those with mental illness.

I’m not going to lie, there are times when this book would be far too painful to read. It’s dark, gritty, and dives straight to the murky depths of the ocean that is Mental Illness. But in that murky depth there is power. There is meaning to be found. There is healing and the strength to move forward in the darkening trenches of Challenger Deep. 

There is the acknowledgement that just because you’ve won a battle, doesn’t mean you’ve won the war. Neal makes it painfully obvious that this is a battle Caden will fight long after the final page is written. 

But there is a lingering hope that resonates in the cracks long after you’ve closed the book and returned it to your bookshelf.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Cursing, Bullying, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol

tezariah's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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: Suicide attempt, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Death, Suicide, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness