Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

10 reviews

klsreads's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I picked this up on a whim to read alongside Caliban and the Witch, and I ended up loving it. The writing is an absolute feast - I felt I could touch the world and characters. +100 for a gorgeous exploration of Sapphic desire and love. 

This book is sad but the subjects are treated with immense tenderness. Will definitely be reading more of Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Blood, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Colonisation

karmachamillionaire's review

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Infertility, Blood, Sexism, Grief, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcohol

lukests's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Misogyny

Minor: Miscarriage and Chronic illness

sarahfr1end's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Vomit, Infertility, and Pregnancy

arminam's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Torture

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Fatphobia

nicnevin's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

This story is capitivating, almost as if by magic. 

That tasteless joke aside, its a beautiful piece showing how minor quibbles can lead to such devestating consequences. 

The relationships and social connections throughout are stitched together with a raw, real intensity. Its beautiful. 

A warning though, it can be intense so just a heads up! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Classism, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Violence, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Torture

epellicci's review

dark slow-paced

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

2.75

Let me begin by disclosing, I don't like books about the witch trails. It's a topic that gets very much under my skin, and so that was against The Mercies from the start. However the reason I didn't like this book is more than that. While the writing was easy to get along with, it doesn't go anywhere. The threat of Absalom Cornet's arrival on Vardo, and subsequent tension is dragged out far longer than any other event, as Hargrave's two main characters, Maren ad Ursa, are some of the most isolated in the book. Focusing on their relationship to Absalom and each other, much of the story is set internally between them and so as a reader, I got the impression that the main event of the story had developed without me.

The actual trials seem to begin, and were done with over the course of about a dozen pages at the end - which arrives suddenly with no resolution for Maren and Ursa. I found this incredibly disappointing given the vast majority of the book is based in teasing a romance between them during their shared solitude and fear.

Unfortunately this book felt short at several hurdles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Chronic illness and Miscarriage

chaoticlesbian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Vomit, Violence, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Hate crime, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Colonisation, Chronic illness, and Blood

anarchoduck's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

I enjoyed the atmosphere and setting of the book, the depiction of the tough life and rough weather on Vardø and the women of Vardø seemed like interesting and fun characters to me. The stories of Maren and Ursa are both in their own ways sad and disturbing but also a little hopeful and I really liked that. 
However, I think it was a questionable choice to almost completely exclude the perspectives of the Sami and not further inform about their culture and marginalisation. In my opinion, Diina should have been a main character and the story should have been told at least partly from her point of view. The way her character is written does slightly reinforce racist stereotypes because it's shown from Maren's and Ursa's perspectives. This story should be about her. 
I didn't particularly love the sapphic relationship aswell. Kerstin and Diina would have been far better love interests. I don't need another white, skinny, assimilated, normatively beautiful sapphic couple. I just don't live for that.

And why does Ursa's sexual trauma doesn't play any role in their sexual interaction?! That's just lazy.

All in all, I don't detest the novel but I can't pretend like I'm not severely disappointed and it just leaves me feeling nothing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

ross_f's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Chronic illness, Rape, and Torture