Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory

9 reviews

queergoth_reads's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

I didn't realise this was a Disney retelling when I picked it up. Probably wouldn't have stopped me but I would have been more prepared. 

This was cute but I didn't feel any real chemistry between the characters until suddenly they were together. I almost stopped reading after the first few chapters because I was not a fan of the writing. It felt very clunky. I gave it a chance though and it was a nice easy read. I liked the little beauty and the beast references. 

I think part of my lack of enjoyment came from the specific edition I had being very poorly formatted. Sometimes scene changes were paragraph breaks, sometimes it was just an indent so it was hard to work out what was going on at points. 

I probably would have rated it higher but I've heard a lot of great things about Jasmine Guillory and was excited to read one of her books finally and this just didn't meet my expectations. I probably wouldn't have picked it up if I'd known it was Disney, I'd have picked another of her books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness

amberinpieces's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness

cady_sass's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

Books about books are my love language. This is perfection. I’m not even upset that there’s no spice, it’s so good. Brought tears to my eyes! Grumpy/sunshine done right 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Cursing, Bullying, Mental illness, Racism, Death of parent, and Sexual content

sophieamreacher's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Read this in one sitting. Super cute retelling of beauty and the beast with Black characters and set in the publishing industry. I liked the dialogue and the conflict resolution, as well as the undertones of self esteem and sabotage. My copy had weird things happening with the font size for some reason? 

I found the first few chapters very different from the rest of the book, a bit amateur in writing. I really enjoyed it once I continued on though. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Mental illness

annahamburger's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

annnakane's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness and Racism

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-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

4.5

Such a sweet enemies to lovers romance. Not spicy at all but it was cute. I loved the characters & the fact that they were writers/editors. I always like books about people who love books as much as I do. I also really enjoyed that it was a loose, modern retelling of Beauty & the Beast featuring Black characters, since that’s my favorite Disney movie. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Body shaming

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

Going into this, I didn't realize it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I just wanted to read Jasmine Guillory's latest book. Once I did realize that that's what was happening, I thought it was cute, but some of the references were a bit on the nose (like, why would a publishing company be called "Then Somebody Bends"?). Still, it was cute, and I can tell that Guillory is growing as a writer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Car accident, and Racism

thefatpaperback's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Bullying, Death of parent, and Grief