Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Birthday by Meredith Russo

12 reviews

bumblemee's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

This book broke me a little, but also did an okay job of picking up the pieces. Please check the content warnings before reading this book, I think there are a lot of people who will have a harder time reading this book than I did.
This book felt very real, which might sound vague, but I don't know how to describe it better. Morgan and Eric are great characters and their friendship - or rather their journey from friends to lovers - was heartwarming to read. (Eric reminded me of Samwise Gamgee btw, which made me like him even more.) Reading Morgans chapters was very hard sometimes, I wanted to enter the book and be there for her so bad sometimes. If you want to read a book that contains a lot of trans joy, this one is not the right pick for you, even though the ending is hopeful. There is a lot of transphobia, internalized and otherwise and a lot of self-hatred and suffering.

Quick note: Since first writing this review, it came to my attention that there apparently is controvercy around Meredith Russo and her being abusive towards her ex partner. So if you decide to read this, maybe think about getting it from a library or buying it secondhand or something.

Kurze Anmerkung: Es werden teilweise suboptimale Worte verwendet, wie z.B. Geschlechtsumwandlung statt Geschlechtsangleichung. Idk wie das auf Englisch gehändelt wurde, daher dieser Zusatz auf Deutsch. Weiß nicht, warum diese Entscheidung so getroffen wurde, eventuell weil das beim Übersetzungsprozess nicht aufgefallen ist oder vllt auch einfach, weil das ein Wort ist, das zu der Zeit passt, in der das Buch spielt. So oder so finde ich, das hätte so nicht passieren sollen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

withlivjones's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? No

3.5

A book about growing up and finding yourself. I loved the development of both Morgan and Eric’s characters, and I thought the dual POV was very well done. Their relationship as it evolves from friendship into romance felt really authentic as well. The only issue I had was that the pacing sped up quite a bit during the last two sections, with everything being resolved pretty quickly after such a long time spent on developing all the conflicts in the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Violence

phantastic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Intensely raw and emotional. This book deals with serious topics with the care and realism that they deserve.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Transphobia

Minor: Blood

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Addiction

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Mental illness

Minor: Death of parent

nikitnm's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.0

i’m trans so this book was insanely relatable, didn’t give 5 stars bc i wish i had a bf

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Transphobia, and Homophobia

chris_reads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Dysphoria, Grief, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Mental illness, Alcohol, and Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Cancer, and Death of parent

reading_rainbows's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Violence, Transphobia, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content

kathrinellis's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective tense 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

5.0

there’s nothing I would change about the way this touching story is told!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

eems_madeline's review against another edition

emotional 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia

stressejesse's review

emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, Cancer, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Vomit