Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

28 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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agentcopykat's profile picture

agentcopykat's review

4.75

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kailajay's profile picture

kailajay's review

4.0
challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is not an easy read. There are significant spoilers in this review due to the nature of the book and a serious need for content warnings.

I first read this book a couple of years ago and when browsing my Kindle notebook noticed a highlighted quote from the 3rd book in the Road to Nowhere series and decided to reread the series.

The premise is a virus that sweeps (at least) America that kills 98% of men and 99%+ of women, particularly during childbirth. The US becomes a degenerative hellscape, where the straight men of the world battle for the few women left alive, and generally do horrible things to them.

The main character is assaulted within a handful of pages. There are in depth descriptions of FGM, sexual assault, miscarriage, stillbirth, child death, death during childbirth, child sexual abuse, and general violence against women. 

But it's still a deeply interesting book that draws you in. Written in a mix of direct storytelling and frantic journal entries, the 'Unnamed Midwife' is a complex and intriguing character who will do (nearly) anything to survive. We're introduced to concepts expanded on in the next books, the idea of these journals being copied over and over again to preserve both the story and the medical information, the 'wooden belly' that Ina wears, the settlement of Nowhere. 

The main character, the 'Unnamed Midwife'- she gives a different name to everyone she meets, and is an experienced midwife- goes through a long and complex journey to find her way to Nowhere, an ex military base. I don't know much about American geography but the people she meets, and the stories that she tells through them, are all incredibly gripping and while they don't always move the story onwards, they move the character onwards and build the new world up (or tear it down just that little bit more).

It's really hard to recommend this book because of how deeply dark the content is. I enjoyed this book in a very complex, rough way, but whether you want to read this needs to be a personal choice, based on whether you can process the content in a safe way. I'd advise taking breaks when you need to, even in a reasonably short book.

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perfectcupoftea's profile picture

perfectcupoftea's review

5.0
challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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: Complicated

Couldn’t put it down once I started reading. One of those books that stays with you after. Wish I could read it again for the first time

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I never thought a book would ever top my favorite books of all time. This book though….chefs kiss. I devoured this beautifully written book in 24 hours. 

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adventurous dark emotional informative 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: No

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I was looking forward to reading this and I wanted to love it. It's just spending so much time in the time period of immediately post event, and I'm bored, I'm more interested in the this is how the world is now time period.

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