Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

15 reviews

atomicbritt's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Drug use, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Racism

c_alexander's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

loved this - loved the complex characters and relationships, the imagery, tone, and the pacing!

was disappointed side characters weren't further developed - especially in terms of the bipoc characters; racism is a theme explored in the book but in a really brief capacity considering its relevance

took a little while to 'pick up' but had me hooked in the second half

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide, Death, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Violence, Homophobia, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Car accident

holyschmitz's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Woah. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Mental illness, Gore, Drug use, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Classism, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Drug abuse, Cursing, Body horror, and Alcohol

winglesswarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Grief, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Death, and Murder

frantic_vampire's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am…unwell over this book. This was just fucking fantastic and I’m honestly at a loss for words for this review. Summer Sons is one of the absolute best books that I think I’ve ever read and I just want to scream about it. It’s this mix of dark academia, paranormal hauntings, and queer longing that had me hooked from the very beginning. Everything about this book was feral and unhinged and tinged with the sticky restlessness of a southern summer. And I could read about Andrew and Sam and Riley endlessly. This book is one that will haunt my dreams for a long time to come and I can’t recommend it enough. This is the easiest five stars I think I’ve ever given a book. I’m just gonna excuse myself now and go scream about it into the void…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Drug use, Gaslighting, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Classism, Eating disorder, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Racism

caspian_the_pauper's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Death, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Murder, Stalking, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

zghutcheson01's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I really loved this book. It took me about 30 pages to get into it but once I did I couldn't put it down. Without spoilers, I do enjoy how this book came to a satisfying ending without frantically rushing to resolve all of the character issues. It let the book feel like a peek into someone's life and you know things are going to change but that the hardest part is over. The nurder mystery part isn't super compelling but I honestly think that's not the main point of the book which is the character development and exploration of the supernatural which it does really well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Racism, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Addiction, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Domestic abuse and Transphobia

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Alcohol, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Mental illness

Minor: Vomit and Slavery

bookenbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Vomit, Body horror, Suicide, Violence, Self harm, Murder, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death, Cursing, Classism, Animal death, Colonisation, Homophobia, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gore, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Drug use

Minor: Toxic friendship, Animal death, Racism, and Alcohol

btrz7's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Alcohol and Terminal illness

Minor: Car accident