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ClareR (5674 KP) rated Mrs Dalloway in Books

Sep 6, 2020  
Mrs Dalloway
Mrs Dalloway
Virginia Woolf | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
7.4 (10 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’ve been trying to read this book for the best part of 20 years. It moved with me from my childhood home, through university, to the house I live in now. It’s a well travelled book. Thanks to The Pigeonhole, they’ve removed the one hurdle to the reason why I haven’t read it: sections, chapters, staves - call it what you will. I have a mental block when it comes to reading something without a break, and now I have learnt what I need to do - create sections or breaks myself (Ducks, Newburyport may well be on the cards soon).
I’m so glad that The Pigeonhole serialised this, because I’ve been missing out on a true classic. A day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway in the lead up to her party, and all of the people who intersect her life(directly and indirectly). It’s a beautiful story. The peripheral stories are just as interesting and important, giving us a look in to the lives of those living at the time. In particular the story of Septimus Smith stays with me, and the lack of understanding of both Shell Shock and mental health problems. But life seems to go on for all of the others.
This is a book that I’m glad to have read, and it’s not hard to see why it’s considered to be a classic.
  
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ClareR (5674 KP) rated H is for Hawk in Books

Jan 14, 2018  
H is for Hawk
H is for Hawk
Helen Macdonald | 2015 | Biography
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A surprisingly fabulous memoir!
Helen Macdonald is an Academic and a Falconer. She loses her father and decides to get a Goshawk and train it - they're notoriously difficult to train; but the connection they have is special. T H White features heavily in this, and his memoir of training his Goshawk is recounted alongside Helen's own story. His first attempt with a Goshawk was disastrous (I believe he became more successful after.).
This is a very moving story: we see Helen trying to 'become' more like a Hawk and not need people after her father's death. The descriptions of nature and the hawk are amazing, and i loved the language she used. A brave story in a lot of ways, to admit to mental health issues and her own (perceived) shortcomings. The end is particularly sad - but I'll leave it to you to read it and find out why!
  
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Gail Honeyman | 2017 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.6 (80 Ratings)
Book Rating
Completely different to what I expected, witty but rather sad
I've heard that this book is a comedy because of the narrator's frank outlook on life, however this is definitely not the case.

Eleanor Oliphant is socially awkward, very blunt but well spoken and seems to have a few dysfunctional issues. The author then explores why this must be the case, especially her relationship with her past and her controlling mother. The novel is about trauma and mental health, and how depression can cause people to act out in unusual ways. It is funny at times when she has no clue about social conventions and how much emphasis is put on the mundane.

It's important for showing that one isn't 'mad' for being different, merely misguided and that by addressing problems head on and getting the right support Eleanor Oliphant is actually completely fine.
  
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ClareR (5674 KP) rated Watching You in Books

Jul 21, 2018  
Watching You
Watching You
Lisa Jewell | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
8
8.7 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Well, this had me guessing right up to the end!
This has all the ingredients for a good thriller or mystery: a teenaged voyeur, a potentially unreliable witness with mental health issues, teenaged girls with a crush, career driven men, unfaithful spouses. Quite a lot for a book that's under 500 pages long!
An unspecified dead body appears in the first chapter, and the book then goes on to tell us the sequence of events that lead up to that moment. There are some interesting police interviews tucked in now and again too, that help to clarify (or sometimes obfuscate!) what is actually going on.
This was really good. There was no way that I was going to guess who was murdered and by whom, until the end - I liked that touch. The end was a proper bombshell moment. Great writing from Lisa Jewell!
  
Turtles All The Way Down
Turtles All The Way Down
John Green | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.4 (60 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book was great - I love a good mental health illness book! I think that aspect of the book was interesting to read and the description toward the mid-end there was amazing in the description. I think the aspect of the, lets track down this missing person was a bit of a wildcard in the book - cool concept but very random. And was not a very "all there" part of the book.

I liked where the title of the book came in too, I was like, why the heck is this book called that? ohk now I get it hah. Overall a great read, but taking a 1 star away for the overall cohesiveness of the concept working together, and it was a bit slow in a few places especially the beginning, but then I powered through the last 186 pages pretty quickly!
  
The Silent Patient
The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
10
8.3 (39 Ratings)
Book Rating
Incredible debut novel!
An incredible debut novel that has left me staring into the void, processing, after just finishing... After reading an excerpt, I was hooked and every page sucked me in deeper. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has felt drawn to Alicia Berenson's case since it began. A new job has provided him with the opportunity to help work towards some sort of breakthrough and he plans to do just that. Alicia, silent after being found with her husband dead at her feet, has been forgotten, no longer front page news, tucked away quietly in a psychiatric facility facing closure. This book touches on so many difficult topics, mental health, love, and betrayal. The author did a fabulous job of building the story and then twisting it in a way I never would have seen coming!? Highly recommended read and will be back for more from this author!