Written in 1892 about the wife of a doctor who has some mental health issues happening that her doctor husband diagnoses as temporary depresh with hysterical tendencies because...1892. Anyway, they go away to a summer home where dear husband orders the wife to do nothing. At all. Just like, sleep. Make sure you don't do anything, especially, writing in that journal you love so much. Doing nothing will cure the crazies. So she spends all her time in a room, writing in her journal anyway because damn the man, with yellow wallpaper on the walls that has a crazy pattern on it that makes her crazier.

I couldn't put this down. What a unique experience, reading this book. The stories of the author's time in therapy as well as the stories she shares of her clients all make us reflect on our own lives in so many ways.

One of the client's stories in particular leaves us thinking about our own mortality. Something I'm sure surprises no one that I reflect on frequently enough. I felt content with my own life choices so far upon this reflection and justified in my "scattered" way of doing things. This story in particular, along with some of the others, breaks your heart. But somehow the author squishes your heart back together so that you feel good about it all in the end.

This book is an emotional rollercoaster. It far exceeded my expectations. I strongly recommend it to everyone. It will make you see life through a new lens and might even help you figure out some of your shit. Still, go see a therapist though ;)

Claire Keegan can make you feel so much in so few words...my heart swelled reading this, just like her other works. She is a treasure and this story is a chef's kiss

I feel like this should have been shocking, but it wasn't? Not in a bad way, but in a way that proves just how prevalent and f*d up rape culture is. Maybe it's because this is the year I turn 40 and my life experience is showing but reading this, nodding along, the easy empathy, testament to how fast #metoo spread and how much bigger it could have been if we were afforded more courage and support when speaking up. Stigma is a bitch and books like these are so needed to help squash it.

don't
trust
anyone
with a cross hanging
from
their
neck
&
hate
buried
inside
their
chest.

- take it from me

This was an enjoyable read & the illustrations were fantastic. This is the first I read of this author, but have more queued up. Some of the work was quite simple but given the subject matter, I was fine with that.

3.75/5

While I was tempted to remove a star for the second part of this book for its overly and seemingly unnecessarily descriptive account of geographical areas, I came to appreciate that they were essential to the author's memories of her abuse as a child. While the option remains to give no rating at all when a book contains sensitive subject matter such as this one, the importance of no longer sweeping issues of child abuse under the rug should make books like this one essential reading. Therefore, 5 stars for all of the victims of child abuse who see themselves represented, defended, and fought for by authors like Sylvia Fraser. Yes this book is difficult to read, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be read.

In the first part of this book we learn, by way of court transcripts, of the 2001 legal case of two young men from the Greater Toronto Area who were caged, diapered, conditioned, and tortured, by their aunt. The details are abhorrent and justice hardly seems served. For anyone who remembers hearing bit of this case, the details herein will shock you.

In the second and third parts of the book, we learn some background of Sylvia Fraser's repressed memories of a horrible childhood and her experiences from when she published a book on these accounts. This woman had admirable strength and her purpose in life and legacy as a fearless advocate for human and animal rights is something we should all strive to honour and replicate.

This is a story about friendship, loss, and bullying, with issues in class, mental health, and abuse. At times I needed to remind myself that it's a YA novel. This was hard to put down. While reading you feel the desperation of the MC in finding her missing friend, needing to know what happens next, why is nobody looking for her?!

The only critique I can give is for those who have trouble with or dislike books that jump back and forth in time, leaving you to piece everything together in the end. I understand the importance of that strategy in the telling of this story, however, the chapter titles were difficult for me to establish where we were at times. I found it distracted from the reading.

Otherwise, I do think this is an essential read. I hope being added to the banned books list in the States brings greater attention to it. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Amid a busy schedule and little motivation, I took a gentleman's intermission from the two novels I have on the go to read the final book of the Amulet series. The conclusion we've waited years to get our hands on! Amulet is a great series with fantastic art (and much smarter writing than one of the novels I'm reading atm, ugh). This was a great book and a nice way to end the series. I did expect one more twist or a final betrayal that I didn't get, but I'm fine with that. Happy that my series is complete. Will be re-reading next with my 9 year-old :)

Unlike its promised marketing, this book was not addictive and was definitely put-downable...never lie...

Glad this was borrowed from Prime Reading and not paid for because then it would have been a waste of money and time...never lie...

This was repetitive and stupid, and the people were stupid and repetitive, and I don't know why I kept reading. I guess maybe reading small bits at a time as a distraction from assignments was productive since I got bored with this as a distraction and was thus more productive with my assignments? I'm sorry, was that repetitive?

I'm feeling catty. And annoyed. But now I'm done reading this forever and it will be a long time before I read another "psychological thriller" because it is a genre that is ridiculously inconsistent and often disappointing. At least with romance, I know I'll want to barf...

My 14-year-old is reading this in his grade 9 English class so I picked it up as well, having never read it. I’ve only read Agatha Christie for school, and only ever Poirot. As I’m reading through I think: Haha, they talk funny. But I suppose Ms. Christie being born in the late 1800s, in the UK, and having published this book in 1939 is explanation enough for that.

Alright, so 10 strangers, each with a dark secret, are invited to a mysterious house on an uninhabited island, by a mysterious person they don’t know…and they ALL DECIDE TO GO. I guess people were more adventurous pre-TV and pre-Internet. Anyway, they start dying one by one and the questions are, who is the killer, is the killer one of them, and will they all die in the end (as the title suggests)?

Among the guests are a few women. At one point this one lady seems to go a little nuts, naturally, they are stuck on an island with no way off it as they get murdered one at a time…The men are having none of this hysterical women crap. As this woman is pointing out the hilarity of the poem that was left in each of their rooms describing how each of them will die and how they should be paying attention to that…:”They stared at her uncomprehendingly. It was as though the same well-balanced girl had gone mad before their eyes.”

Umm, I’d be going crazy too if these guys couldn’t “comprehend” something so obvious. They even mention it earlier in the book! Anyway, she continues to find the poems and the deaths funny in the she’s-gone-mad sort of way and so, to make her stop: “Dr. Armstrong strode forward. He raised his hand and struck her a flat blow on the cheek.” And then SHE THANKED HIM for snapping her out of it. Then she goes back to the kitchen: the marks of the doctor’s hand stood out red on her cheek, to make these guys breakfast with another lady, because the butler who had been doing it thus far was the most recent person to die, spoiler.

Over the next few pages, a bunch of the men start acting cray ballz and nobody slaps them. Their laughs aren’t “hysterical” though, just “high and unnatural”...ugh

Also what kind of tongue do keep opening tins of??

Anyway, very cool mystery, hard to not 5-star a classic. Agatha Christie was clever as hell and definitely a real-life murderess.