Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

A Neon Darkness by Lauren Shippen

8 reviews

sophiesmallhands's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Murder, Death, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Racism, and Drug abuse

dodecashedron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It's always weird when you read a book where the main character is kind of a baddie. 

But I felt the author did a great job of having us empathise with him without sympathising too much or making us forget his own role in all this.

It is so clear that Robert/Damian's view of the world is so skewed,and thst he cannot see this. Every time he fucked up and you thi k he might learn from this, he learns the exact wrong lessons. That combined with 0 accountability make him interesting to read about, impossible to be around. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Addiction, and Murder

theheartisanaro's review against another edition

challenging dark sad

3.0

This entire book screams "it's Damien's world and we're all just living in it". It was hard to get through and mostly unpleasant to read but I did find myself understanding Damien to some extent and feeling sympathetic towards him. The one thing I didn't like was the occasional switch between perspectives which felt choppy and didn't really add much to the overall plot. I also generally think Lauren Shippen is better at writing podcasts than books, but I'd still recommend this to anyone who likes The Bright Sessions or enjoys reading about an emo teen with no character development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Vomit, Alcoholism, and Violence

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, War, Confinement, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

poemsarelikepeople's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Cursing, Addiction, Stalking, Islamophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit and Homophobia

beccaand's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Such a fascinating look into Damien's backstory. Villain origin story? You love to see it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

xoodlebooks's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Islamophobia, Addiction, Xenophobia, Stalking, Sexism, and Racism

piscero's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Violence, Mental illness, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Physical abuse and Suicide attempt

toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Enjoyed this book, though I found it difficult to read all at once knowing how Damien turns out in the Bright Sessions podcast. I thought the metaphors and symbolism were really great and it gave me a whole lot of context and angst for the way the characters in the podcasts are, and made me want to relisten to the pods. Much different vibes to an infinite noise!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Confinement, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

Strong themes of manipulation and people trying to justify/excuse abusive behavior