Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

120 reviews

aliterarygoodtime's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pregnancy, Child death, Blood, Classism, and Grief

a_mckeever's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Child death

ginabyeg's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• 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

This book will definitely give you a taste of nursing in the early 1900’s. Story is fast-paced, engaging from the start, told from the perspective of a still-single nurse in the maternity ward during the 1918-pandemic. Some parts get rather graphic. There are themes of life/death, trauma, and religion. While the book was published in 2020, the author had finished it before that time. I find this makes the character’s insights in the book even more powerful, somehow, and the parallels between then and now extra startling.

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Content Warnings

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

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

Fascinating, incredibly moving historical fiction. I had no idea Dr. Kathleen Lynn was based on a real woman doctor at the time. I found Nurse Julia Power to be a warm, quick-witted, appealing narrator and I loved her interactions with the newbie nurse helper Bridie Sweeney.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Physical abuse, and Sexism

floorflawless's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child death