Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The One by John Marrs

51 reviews

lor_nia's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Misogyny, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content

ivanagrimm's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

This book is not what I thought it was going to be at all. The story was unique and makes you think of a DNA Matching service would truly be a service. I think at this end of the day, those who are truly open to love can find it with anyone.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

sarjmorg's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

enmcurrie's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Confused as to why this book has such positive reviews .. it isn’t totally awful - the concept is so interesting, hence why I wanted to read it in the first place, and it felt very Black Mirror which is one of my favourite shows ever. The idea of a scientific ‘soulmate’ is so curious to me and it makes you consider what you would do in such a world.

However, personally I hated the fact that it’s made up of incredibly short chapters and like 5 different POVs. It just felt clunky and distracting and when something interesting happened at the end of one chapter it was slightly frustrating to have to wait for 4 more POVs before you got back to it. I think the author is over-reliant on using short and mysterious one liner cliff hangers at the end of each chapter to get you to continue reading it. Additionally, this book is riddled with cliches. Like sooooooo many. I appreciate a good twist here and there but it just felt comical and unbelievable at a point to be honest.

If I could sum it up I would say it’s one of the silliest and yet most addictive books I’ve read. It was definitely a page-turner but I genuinely wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone other than people that struggle to enjoy reading/are in a slump. The whole thing just felt slightly cringey. While it is a more ‘dystopian’ book, I think it’s important to keep it at least somewhat realistic at times, rather than just throwing a bunch of twists in there for the sake of it. 

I think the concept and the tension was absolutely fantastic - the execution was just disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Infidelity

pla_333's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Minor: Miscarriage and Stalking

themoodreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Murder

Minor: Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

anna_reads_too_much's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I have very mixed feelings on this one.  It took me a long time to read, just because I didn't care about the story until about the halfway mark.  I loved the short chapters.  The topic was extremely interesting, and I kept finding myself wondering what I would do if this technology was available in our world.

I liked the fact that we followed a lot of different characters to see how they reacted to this technology, but I didn't connect with them like I wanted to.  They felt very one dimensional.

My rating is for how thought provoking I thought this one was.  In the end, I did enjoy it, but it just wasn't as good as I was expecting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Mental illness

sleepybunnyreading's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Grief

paulaks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.25

I really wanted to like this book but  I don´t know... The writing was mediocre but the pace was pretty fast because of POV switches and short chapters. But holy crap the plot was CRAZY- Everything felt like a fever dream! The topics were interesting and definitely gave different nuances but it was just too much I guess. This is a me-problem and I truly understand the hype it had. I was fascinated by some moments and ideas but it was way too much for me. Check TW! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Pregnancy

brandilovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

If a simple DNA swab could find your soul mate,  would you do it?   What if your soul mate could be the same sex as you?  Or a generation older or younger than you?   Or be mentally handicapped?  Or have severe psychological problems?  Would you do it if you were single so you could eliminate all the Mr/Ms Wrongs before you found Mr/Ms Right?  What if you were in a relationship that you knew was "the one"?  Would you get tested to verify it?

The One takes place 10 years after this groundbreaking test became public.  Millions across the world have been tested.  The One follows 5 people who get their match.  A woman whose match is across the world, a CEO who always puts her business first,  a man who is pressured by his fiance to take the test to prove they are soul mates, a woman who attends her match's memorial after getting matched, and a psychopath who is in the middle of a murder spree.

There is so much more I could say,  but I don't want to give anything away.   

I enjoyed not only the "what if's" raised by the premise but the way each story unfolded.  They were all completely different and each had parts that were completely unexpected. 

Definitely recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting