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a_mckeever's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Medical content, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Domestic abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, and War
Minor: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury
ginabyeg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Child death, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Death, Blood, Excrement, Religious bigotry, and War
booksandteatime's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Death, Self harm, Grief, Suicide, and Vomit
Moderate: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Physical abuse
brdgtc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Rape, Blood, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, War, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Religious bigotry
bookscatteandme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Classism, Medical content, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Blood
a_26_l's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Child death, Medical trauma, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, and Pandemic/Epidemic
emjay2021's review against another edition
5.0
Emma Donoghue is a beautiful writer, and the audio version of this really does the prose justice. One funny thing about the audio book: I kept thinking the doctor was saying “N’est-ce pas?” an awful lot, and it made me wonder why she would lapse into French so often. Well, it turned out she was actually saying “Nurse Power” in an Anglo-Irish accent. It took me a LONG time to realize it.
This book is set in a quarantine maternity ward during the 1918 flu pandemic, so there is a lot of pregnancy, baby loss, and death. Heads up if these are things you don’t want to read about at this time. I was OK with it, but there was a time when I would not have been. There is also a lot about the abuses perpetuated on women and children by the Catholic Church.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Physical abuse, and Sexism
swhitzel's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
2.5
Generally, this was a beautiful story, but it also seemed quite abrupt (in its ending) and felt as though it had little resolution. Based on the synopsis, I expected more of a relationship to develop between the three main women, and yet the connections felt superficial and forced. They go nowhere, but they also had so much potential!
Also, the depictions of birth and the medical situations were quite graphic. I often found myself sick to my stomach at some of the descriptions, especially early on.
Now that I'm writing this, I think I enjoyed the potential of this story more than the actual story itself.
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Pregnancy, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Child death, War, Classism, Sexism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicide
isaaah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Classism, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, and Child abuse
Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Infertility, Suicide, Slavery, Excrement, Miscarriage, and Abandonment
bessadams's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexism, Blood, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Vomit, and War