Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

10 reviews

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

micallab's review against another edition

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

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

lay_kone's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

nikii_js's review

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

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

Minor: Child death and War

jillaay_h's review

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

katsmedialibrary's review

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

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

saltedsnail's review

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

Moderate: Child death

sofipitch's review

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, Death of parent, Suicide, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child death

tintededges's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

Check out my full review here:  The Little Stranger | Tinted Edges 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Racial slurs

nell's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm honestly not sure what I think of the story. The movie was pretty boring, so I thought I'd give the audiobook a try, largely because I always enjoy Simon Vance's unparalleled performance.
The book isn't quite as dull as the movie, but the character of the Doctor is so fundamentally unlikeable and judgemental that I don't trust him as the narrator. His objectives are questionable at best, malicious at worst -

but we never know either way

.
So I did enjoy the book, I suppose. But it's not one I'll ever read again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Animal death and Child death