Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Mary: An Awakening of Terror by Nat Cassidy

48 reviews

the_antler_queen12's review

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5.0

This book is a modern day masterpiece , the way its written made me surprised a man wrote , Mary is infuriating,  reliable and monstrous all at the same time that commented on the treatment of midaged women is done so well while the novel still puts you at the edge of your seat espilly the last hundred pages , the books gory it is a horror but it's also beautiful , the books afterwords deserves a mention as it is beautifully written.  A must read for women and men of all ages .
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gerrakay's review against another edition

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I cannot stand to listen to this any longer. I have not enjoyed this book. The brief glimpses of what could become an interesting plot are completely eclipsed by how unbearable the main character—and the voice with which she is written—is. Mary's narration could be reduced to be, hell, at least a third less dense and it could approach being bearable, but then I'd still have to slog through the Feminism 101 postulations on womanhood. I appreciate the effort in fore-fronting women's issues but I'd appreciate adequate editing more.

Those glimpses of plot we do get imply a very dull one. I read other reviews, including spoilers, and I was correct in assuming I guessed the story line from the start (which frankly I think was intentional since it is so overt, but that would suggest that the journey is the point, and the journey drags because it's so fucking long and the main character sucks so bad that it's just an exercise in misery).

Hate to be a hater but I hate it.
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luvbg1031's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Nancy got thr short end of the stick! Phucked up!
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kshertz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This book was incredibly scary and also had very good humor and timing. I really enjoyed the author’s preface talking about his experience with his mother and Steven King and Carrie. I also appreciate the caretaking with the story for Mary and her background. I especially appreciate the afterword where the author does address my only concern with the book which was that he was a male writing about a female who is pre-menopausal having hot flashes. Great book, great idea, and great execution. It would be five stars, except for that I do think it was a little bit too long.
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himpersonal's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Mary, you are my hero! I declare this so on behalf of all middle-aged, perimenopausal women living under a careless patriarchy. Nat Cassidy, your momma raised you right! Aside from your author's note, where your devotion to your mom was evident, I can only conclude she taught you well based on how you wrote Mary's transformation.

If I could, I would teach this book as part of a college-level women's studies or feminism class. There is so much symbolism all over the book, including the obvious, like the mirrors, the furies, the ants, the hot flashes, her Loved Ones, etc. I gave Mary and Nat an imaginary chest-bump every time she seethed against being called crazy. And I enjoyed rooting for and watching Mary transform from a nobody (not even she gave herself any consideration) to someone who is on the cusp of extraordinary. Her rage is what drives her, and she didn't even know she had any until she had to use it. I have so much optimism for Mary's future.

The afterword was worth sticking around for. I can't believe Cassidy started this book at age 13. Brilliant. Thank you for speaking on behalf of every woman who has ever been medically gaslit and/or subjected to male doctors who were dismissive of our pain. Thank you for celebrating all the invisible and overlooked women who were put out to pasture. Thank you for being a wonderful ally against the ageism women face, should we be lucky enough to live long enough to have to deal with it.

This was my first Cassidy book. I really look forward to getting to know more of this writer's works.
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disguisedposer's review

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

4.0

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clovetra's review against another edition

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

4.0

oh wow. oh wow oh wow oh wow this was glorious. that’s truly the only way i can describe this. shout out angry women.
now let’s get out of the way why this is a 4-star — a lot of points in this book weren’t allowed to breathe imo. a lot of things were not fully fleshed out or explained, and although at times having the reader and the mc figuring things out together can work, for this book it didn’t feel like it worked. idk i felt like the horror elements needed to start a looottttt earlier, and let the audience be a step ahead of mary. alas, that did not happen. this can also apply to the “secret” of the town, as well as mary’s “true” identity. i’ll be real i didn’t see the twist about the town coming, but although i guessed mary’s twist, it wasn’t because i had all the ‘information’ before she did — my ass just went with what i thought the author would go for. i just guessed. no evidence i just threw something to the wall and it stuck.
furthermore (my lab reports are getting to me), the horror wasn’t properly… explored? at least for a good chunk of this book. i mean this is something that can’t realistically be worked around considering mary is the queen of blacking out, but then it just left me to fill in the blanks. realistically yes that can work cuz “ooo what the mind can drum up is always terrifying!” except not for my autistic ass. instead i’ll just sit there trying to work out what actually did happen, and be confused until it’s spelled out for me. so all the horror where the reader was left in the dark? sorry it’s a pet peeve when stories do that like SHOW ME THE HORROR MANNNN IF I WANT TO IMAGINE IT I’D JUST MALADAPTIVELY DAYDREAM!!!!! 
also some twists just felt. stupid. like not in terms of it being added to the story — nat cassidy really brought everything to life in a magnificent way — but some elements were giving more magical realism. which i mean if my horror teeters to contemporary i want it to stay that way. if ur gonna do magical realism horror…. commit u know. idk it’s hard to describe *why* i didn’t like the plot’s direction, because it was written well… just some elements felt silly. especially the epilogue w/ mary 😭😭 like this book was well written some parts just felt too batshit for me to suspend my disbelief. like for note, chipotle. like i’m sorry that had me cackling. idk if the humour is intentional or not but this book was too goofy at times.
ok so what did i actually like? Mary. is. a. Bad. BITCH!
also i gotta note her collecting porcelain figurines is so me. girl i love royal doulton bunnies i get u homegirl. she’s somehow so relatable and Not. like she’s what i’d wish i was at 50 and yet is such a loser 😭 it’s such a fun dichotomy which makes her so interesting. honestly if mary was boring i would’ve been much meaner towards this book. nat cassidy honestly tore up mary’s characterisation. as well as everyone elses. like my god NADINE??? her last handful of scenes…. my GODDD she’s a hoot. added some needed light scenes to the book. eleanor was interesting too…. until the end (i don’t like the direction she went in but that’s just personal preference). the town mostly felt like it was full of tropey ‘villains’, but nadine really came thru for the supporting cast.
the ending was really sweet too. it really resonated with me as only recently have i come to terms with Aging. which feels silly to say when im only 19 but still. getting older is scary. and i’ve always had a fear of wasting my life. Seize the Moment! but idk this book just made me feel more content with my realisation that…. hey life is long. i can take breaks. also ur disabled so calm ur fucking farm clover oh my god. but yeah it was really sweet to see mary come to terms with her age! and her body! god do i get that one. all the power to you mary. 
the best part of this book was easily the second half, although i will admit the first half was….. Slow. yes ik we have to build up to things but sometimes i wished it moved a tad faster. oh well.
i will say tho one horror element that got me were the fucking ants. you can show me gore for days but BUGGSSSS?????????????????? shiver me timbers!!! 
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kyrstin_p1989's review

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

3.5

Full of all the best things for a horror novel — murder, gore, cultish religion, kidnapping, insanity. This book was gross but kept my attention. Horror isn’t my favorite genre but I did enjoy this during Halloween creepy season. 
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planky's review

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

3.0

I enjoyed it for the most part, but I felt it dragged in the middle a little. 
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sherah's review against another edition

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

3.75

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