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River Lethe
I read a line once before that said, "When reality is a prison, your mind can set you free." I must disagree. Your mind can also be one of your worst enemies.
Niala, an eighteen year old, ends up in a mental hospital where she finds herself struggling with her past in order to retain her present.
As she starts to recount the events of how she ended up in the mental hospital to her psychiatrist, she becomes aware that her mind imprisons her in a web of lies and she struggles to find her own truth about her reality and her true identity.
Niala, an eighteen year old, ends up in a mental hospital where she finds herself struggling with her past in order to retain her present.
As she starts to recount the events of how she ended up in the mental hospital to her psychiatrist, she becomes aware that her mind imprisons her in a web of lies and she struggles to find her own truth about her reality and her true identity.
201 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2014
2 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 27, 2020
*coughs* I think I have the right to 5-star it.. right?
March 10, 2016
This book takes a 4-star rating. I love the cover; it is painfully beautiful.
Ameles Potamos starts in a very slow pace. Niala is a patient in a mental institution. She has no idea that she is sick or why she is there; nonetheless, she decides she wants to get out of the hospital so she starts to tell her story to her psychiatrist in hopes that they will realize she is not sick and so they would let her out.
I have a soft spot for girls like Nia, not mentally sick ones, but people who have gone through shit. Cuz I think these are the most beautiful people. So yeah, I loved Nia. I liked Nick too and all his riddles and mysteriousness.
Questioning reality is one of the things I like the most cuz I question reality A LOT. Since reality is nothing but a construct of the mind, nothing but chemical reactions inside our brain, nothing but how our senses perceive the outside world, how can we know for sure what reality is if it is all in our head? How can we know for sure that the 3-dimensional world is actually real? The answer is reality (or what is considered real) is relative. It is relative to each and everyone of us.
The song Have You Ever Seen the Rain, thank you for it. Including music or books in a book is always a plus in any book.
I am very impressed with the author; it is not very easy to paint such vivid images and pictures of the characters, the places, and the events; at some point I actually pictured the hospital, with the cafeteria where they ate and all the halls and rooms. I could picture the maze and the roof and the stars.
The downside of the book or my personal notes for the author would be that, at times, it was a bit hard follow what was going on (although this might be from my side) and at times it was a little too slow paced.
Finally, this book should be published.
Some quotes
I want to be unconditionally cherished and somehow be the lucky winner of a sentiments spree.
However, in real life, me and him, we did have a world of our own, a world that has nothing to do with reality and if I have to answer that question, I'd say we would meet in a dream that has both mine and his nightmares, because together both our nightmares form a perfect haven for both of us.
All the emptiness, the sorrow, the burning thoughts in her mind, the carnage inside her skull, it felt like a bottomless, endless pilt of hell inside of her.
You think we are stuck here and we are treated like animals, you think the world out there is any different from what is inside the hospital? I am telling you, at least we realize it, we may be sick and everyone knows it, however they are sick and none of them admits it. It is a mad world out there, everyone is troubled and everyone is a maniac.
You are nothing and you are everything but you are everything and you are nothing.
Ameles Potamos starts in a very slow pace. Niala is a patient in a mental institution. She has no idea that she is sick or why she is there; nonetheless, she decides she wants to get out of the hospital so she starts to tell her story to her psychiatrist in hopes that they will realize she is not sick and so they would let her out.
I have a soft spot for girls like Nia, not mentally sick ones, but people who have gone through shit. Cuz I think these are the most beautiful people. So yeah, I loved Nia. I liked Nick too and all his riddles and mysteriousness.
Questioning reality is one of the things I like the most cuz I question reality A LOT. Since reality is nothing but a construct of the mind, nothing but chemical reactions inside our brain, nothing but how our senses perceive the outside world, how can we know for sure what reality is if it is all in our head? How can we know for sure that the 3-dimensional world is actually real? The answer is reality (or what is considered real) is relative. It is relative to each and everyone of us.
The song Have You Ever Seen the Rain, thank you for it. Including music or books in a book is always a plus in any book.
I am very impressed with the author; it is not very easy to paint such vivid images and pictures of the characters, the places, and the events; at some point I actually pictured the hospital, with the cafeteria where they ate and all the halls and rooms. I could picture the maze and the roof and the stars.
The downside of the book or my personal notes for the author would be that, at times, it was a bit hard follow what was going on (although this might be from my side) and at times it was a little too slow paced.
Finally, this book should be published.
Some quotes
I want to be unconditionally cherished and somehow be the lucky winner of a sentiments spree.
However, in real life, me and him, we did have a world of our own, a world that has nothing to do with reality and if I have to answer that question, I'd say we would meet in a dream that has both mine and his nightmares, because together both our nightmares form a perfect haven for both of us.
All the emptiness, the sorrow, the burning thoughts in her mind, the carnage inside her skull, it felt like a bottomless, endless pilt of hell inside of her.
You think we are stuck here and we are treated like animals, you think the world out there is any different from what is inside the hospital? I am telling you, at least we realize it, we may be sick and everyone knows it, however they are sick and none of them admits it. It is a mad world out there, everyone is troubled and everyone is a maniac.
You are nothing and you are everything but you are everything and you are nothing.
June 20, 2014
This waas so good, I loved all the qoutes, genius.
August 9, 2021
I have three major things that i didn't like:
1) how mental illness was painted, it was bad.
2) we don't have any backgrounds for our characters I couldn't connect or care for any of them.
3) the ending was heavily dependent on a character that was mentioned ONCE in the book then we never saw again until that ending.
---
What I liked most is lucid vibes of the story. It was obsecure and gloomy and fit the story.
---
If it had couple rounds of editing it could have been much better. It felt more like a draft than a ready to publish novel, but overall I think it's a good debute.
1) how mental illness was painted, it was bad.
2) we don't have any backgrounds for our characters I couldn't connect or care for any of them.
3) the ending was heavily dependent on a character that was mentioned ONCE in the book then we never saw again until that ending.
---
What I liked most is lucid vibes of the story. It was obsecure and gloomy and fit the story.
---
If it had couple rounds of editing it could have been much better. It felt more like a draft than a ready to publish novel, but overall I think it's a good debute.
August 24, 2014
This review is also available at : Two Weird Girls Living the Blogger Life
Okay so I'm a sucker for any book containing any of the following: bullying, a certain diagnosis, mental hospitals, mental illness (yeah that's different from a mental hospital).
so a book containing a mental illness and a mental hospital ? yes please!
This is exactly the kind of book that makes me wonder why some awesome books don't get published ?
so before even starting the book I had quiet the high expectations and I was glad to see that the book didn't disappoint me and not only that it made me speechless because THIS ENDING!? oh my god i was literally rendered speechless. I sometimes guess the ending but in this book? nothing even close to that twist.
Another thing I liked is that before starting the book I did have expectations but I also had my doubts I was worried that for some reason after reading so many books including nuthouses I might end up not enjoying Ameles Potamos but obviously by my five star rating Yara Hossam proved me wrong.
I mentioned in If I Stay's review that I love any book with a bewildering twist and that's what made Ameles Potamos stood out to me most.
"they're sick and none of them admits it. It's a mad world out there, everyone's troubled and everyone's a maniac"
and I also have to admit, romance in a nuthouse will never get old.
Characters:
Niala (protagonist) : of course not my favorite cause you know about my side characters fetch but defiantly liked her.
Nicholas (in the hospital with Niala) : I love that name now..Yes Nicholas is defiantly my favorite for some reason from the very start I knew I would like him I mean, Mysterious, sweet, charming but quiet ? YES!! and as much as I wanted to take him for myself it's one of those times when the girl and the boy are so good for each other you just can't separate them.
Julianne (Niala's psychiatrist) : I have mixed feelings for her to be honest I wanted to like her more considering she's a side character but I really didn't.
Okay so I'm a sucker for any book containing any of the following: bullying, a certain diagnosis, mental hospitals, mental illness (yeah that's different from a mental hospital).
so a book containing a mental illness and a mental hospital ? yes please!
This is exactly the kind of book that makes me wonder why some awesome books don't get published ?
so before even starting the book I had quiet the high expectations and I was glad to see that the book didn't disappoint me and not only that it made me speechless because THIS ENDING!? oh my god i was literally rendered speechless. I sometimes guess the ending but in this book? nothing even close to that twist.
Another thing I liked is that before starting the book I did have expectations but I also had my doubts I was worried that for some reason after reading so many books including nuthouses I might end up not enjoying Ameles Potamos but obviously by my five star rating Yara Hossam proved me wrong.
I mentioned in If I Stay's review that I love any book with a bewildering twist and that's what made Ameles Potamos stood out to me most.
"they're sick and none of them admits it. It's a mad world out there, everyone's troubled and everyone's a maniac"
and I also have to admit, romance in a nuthouse will never get old.
Characters:
Niala (protagonist) : of course not my favorite cause you know about my side characters fetch but defiantly liked her.
Nicholas (in the hospital with Niala) : I love that name now..Yes Nicholas is defiantly my favorite for some reason from the very start I knew I would like him I mean, Mysterious, sweet, charming but quiet ? YES!! and as much as I wanted to take him for myself it's one of those times when the girl and the boy are so good for each other you just can't separate them.
Julianne (Niala's psychiatrist) : I have mixed feelings for her to be honest I wanted to like her more considering she's a side character but I really didn't.
May 31, 2021
This book was soooo good. The writing style was amazing like I have tons of quotes. The pace was on point the author was giving me information in little doses that I was just running through the book to know the whole thing. And don't even get me started on the ending even the though the book was somehow small but I really got so attached to the characters. I was literally crying by the end. So yeah overall a really good experience for me.
November 25, 2024
A moving story about love and grief and pain. I felt every word.
May 27, 2025
loveddddd it we need a part two!
the plot twist was so shocking
the plot twist was so shocking
January 30, 2021
This is not only a good book. This is a great book!
The way she took such a deep and, for some, hard topic and added a story to it that not only added another layer to it but made the topic light-hearted that everyone would be able to comprehend it and not feel pained by it.
Plus, the meaning at the end is so so beautiful!
The final chapter is my favorite cause the conversation in it is so profound and as I said so beautiful.
I'm so so glad I bought it and highly recommended to everyone!
The way she took such a deep and, for some, hard topic and added a story to it that not only added another layer to it but made the topic light-hearted that everyone would be able to comprehend it and not feel pained by it.
Plus, the meaning at the end is so so beautiful!
The final chapter is my favorite cause the conversation in it is so profound and as I said so beautiful.
I'm so so glad I bought it and highly recommended to everyone!
February 2, 2021
THE CLIMAX ENCHANTED ME.
Actually I loved everything about this book.
The language used is very simple. The choice of the words is great.
Moreover, the structure used in writing and the usage of the punctuation are 2 main factors that help in the success of this novel.
The flow of the events is very organised and the progression is reasonable.
The twists are unexpected and that is exactly what grabbed my attention.
The plot is not cliché and that what I was looking for. To be more precise the plot exceeded my expectations, like every time I tried to expect what would happen next I failed.
I like the fact that the main concentration is on Nia's mind, thoughts, and her inner voice, so I could relate.
I was like "yes, that's how I would be thinking" or "Yes, that would be the comment in my mind too"
e.g: The protagonist was looking at a doctor and she said:
" the way she holds herself in those clothes makes my mind wander to her love life"
Although the concentration is on one character, I wasn't bored at all *raising my hat*
More than one sentence made me stop and think for a while. The strongest of them is "to be visited by your past" this sentence made me think for a good while about this concept, it is really interesting.
Favourite quote:
"I shouldn't have let you with your soft hands touch such a harsh unwelcoming..." He looked at his scars as he said those words "... Unwelcoming past." He continued."
I should mention that the book that includes some tracks whether a track the characters in the story listen to or the name of a title will always be my favourite such as this book.
Great success 👏
Actually I loved everything about this book.
The language used is very simple. The choice of the words is great.
Moreover, the structure used in writing and the usage of the punctuation are 2 main factors that help in the success of this novel.
The flow of the events is very organised and the progression is reasonable.
The twists are unexpected and that is exactly what grabbed my attention.
The plot is not cliché and that what I was looking for. To be more precise the plot exceeded my expectations, like every time I tried to expect what would happen next I failed.
I like the fact that the main concentration is on Nia's mind, thoughts, and her inner voice, so I could relate.
I was like "yes, that's how I would be thinking" or "Yes, that would be the comment in my mind too"
e.g: The protagonist was looking at a doctor and she said:
" the way she holds herself in those clothes makes my mind wander to her love life"
Although the concentration is on one character, I wasn't bored at all *raising my hat*
More than one sentence made me stop and think for a while. The strongest of them is "to be visited by your past" this sentence made me think for a good while about this concept, it is really interesting.
Favourite quote:
"I shouldn't have let you with your soft hands touch such a harsh unwelcoming..." He looked at his scars as he said those words "... Unwelcoming past." He continued."
I should mention that the book that includes some tracks whether a track the characters in the story listen to or the name of a title will always be my favourite such as this book.
Great success 👏
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews