Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

52 reviews

allisonleslie's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

OMG that ending. It ended on a cliffhanger that I want to be continued.. but also I love that it was left to the reader to decide what it meant. 

I started this book because Jodi told me to on TikTok, and knew nothing about it when I started it. I soon realized it takes place during the pandemic of 2020 and the way it was written absolutely drew me back into the time of quarantine, isolation, and the unknown. 

The plot twist threw me for a loop but I loved this entire story and how everything played out. There hasn’t been a Jodi Picoult book yet that I haven’t loved. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Medical content, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Self harm, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

carlytenille's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Dementia, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Self harm

coffeekitaab's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Writing this in 2024, it is so strange to have relived Covid-19 through this book. A nostalgia when reading about how life generally, the way we lived it - even if we did not contract the virus itself - and the varying attitudes around the virus around the world, the medical staff who saved us, the loved ones we lost - it was a definite struggle and very difficult to carry on at times (only because of Picoult being a favourite author did I persevere). As always, this one packed a punch. There is a description towards the end, describing life during covid and how it felt everyone was holding their breath - a desperate need for a gasp - which no one released which felt/feels very true in hindsight. I'm not sure if reading this 2-3 years ago would have changed the experience I had today (and in what sense that would be) but in a way, I am glad it has been catalogued by Picoult. It is so easy to forget the time the world shutdown, especially as we are creatures of nature, rushing back to the slog and race of working life, trains now running and borders are now open, the time you spend an hour working overtime is an hour lost spending time with loved ones -  the small print should always be highlighted - remember what matters. My love for JP continues to grow with each book I read. Please do check trigger warnings before picking this up. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jennipea382's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Dementia, Death of parent, Grief, Self harm, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Grief, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Sexual content

tiffanymmf's review

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death

mollylulu04's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Dementia, Medical trauma, Death, Medical content, and Death of parent

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Classism, Death of parent, Dementia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

abicaro17's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Diana is a complex and reflective character. Despite doing some choice things throughout the book, her reflection and inner turmoil creates a space to forgive some of her poor decisions. Given that this book basically reflects current and still changing events, it was well written and clearly well researched. It flows with facts and anecdotes from real life experiences. It was a beautiful (if not slightly triggering) book about a fictional person experiencing the trauma of current events. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Confinement, Dementia, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

wazowskismom's review

This book was very slow paced couldn’t hold my attention. I could push through in the first half because I loved the characters growth but after the twist I fell off hard. 

I enjoyed the twist but the reality is…we all lived through Covid and still are. I read to escape and this just further solidified the resentment and sadness I felt towards that time of craziness when the first strain hit. I just stopped being able to enjoy the book and even when I was enjoying it I was DRAGGING.

I think it’s possible the writing style, genre, and general plot all had part in making me put this book down for good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abandonment

chailady's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

I honestly loved this book. I was so engaged and loving her trip to the Galápagos Islands.  But what a twist! It’s the first Covid related book that I’ve read and I felt the research and fear Picoult was accurate.  I have a dear friend and his wife who were stranded in Peru, on their way to Machu Picchu. They posted the struggles: finding food, being safe, no traveling, and how get home. It was very alike to the descriptions used by Picoult.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Self harm