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miafromorchardstreet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Terminal illness, Child death, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Grief
rgs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Child death, and Grief
khakipantsofsex's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide
min3's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Cancer
sorryviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Child death, Death, Cancer, Medical content, Mental illness, Vomit, Blood, and Terminal illness
danidamico's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Llegué a la galesa Emma Glass gracias a la antología de cuentos Hag, que junta relatos de distintas escritoras jóvenes de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda. Su cuento en Hag se llama The Dampness is Spreading y es muy parecido a esta novela. Acá, Glass escribe sobre Laura, una enfermera de la guardia pediátrica de un hospital de Londres. Laura no está bien, pasa sus jornadas de 12 horas sin comer, tiene insomnio y cuando sí logra dormir se ve invadida por unas pesadillas terribles, también empieza a ser perseguida por una figura que se le aparece en los rincones, una visión tenebrosa que representa todas las muertes que rodean a la protagonista: las muertes de sus pacientes pequeños, pero también el fin de su relación con su pareja. Laura misma dice, "por una parte, estoy impresionada y, por otra, aterrorizada de mi habilidad para funcionar" (I am partly impressed and partly terrified at my ability to function).
Rest and Be Thankful es una novela lenta y bastante sutil que no depende de una trama, sino más bien de un clima, de una atmósfera desagradable y pegajosa. Leerla es una experiencia muy sensorial. Me recordó a la película Saint Maud, dirigida por la inglesa Rose Glass (no hay parentesco), que si bien pertenece más explícitamente al género del terror, tiene varios aspectos en común con la novela, sobre todo en esto del clima que generan y con una protagonista que es enfermera.
Vengo muy entusiasmada con las nuevas escritoras británicas: Eliza Clark, Alison Rumfitt, Naomi Booth. Seguramente pronto continúe con Julia Armfield.
ACTUALIZACIÓN (20/5/2022): Ya pasaron varios meses desde que leí esta novela y todavía pienso en ella, en la escritura sensorial de Glass. Me di cuenta de que se parece mucho al estilo narrativo que quiero construir en mi propia escritura. De hecho, acabo de releer su cuento The Dampness is Spreading como inspiración para un texto en el que estoy trabajando.
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Child death, and Terminal illness
angel_kiiss's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, and Death
erenrinren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
One of the things I surprisingly enjoyed about Rest and Be Thankful was the most humdrum, unexciting parts. Seeing Laura as a pediatric nurse going about her day in a sense of longing to normalcy. I think often what this story lacked was a proper descent of Laura's mind. I felt so confused at times, wondering what was actually happening or what was memory, hallucination, disassociation. Although I did feel confused, I did enjoy Laura as the main character, but I wished there was more to her than being consumed by fatigue and madness.
This is definitely more of a short story or novella than a full novel, which wasn't exactly what I was expecting from this when I decided to request it. It also falls a little on the disappointing side.
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief