Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

32 reviews

hurlyburlywitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

This was dark, and made my insides roil. I found the protagonist compelling, though some of her choices didnt particularly resonate with me. 
Several plot points hit me like a gut punch, but in the end the plot felt rushed, like they'd run out of book to struggle in, rather than running out of struggle. 
One thing that was missing for me was the acknowledgement of trans people, and how they were impacted by a virus that was more deadly for women. In fact, they might have held some clue- was the virus more deadly based on about organs, or hormones, or purely capacity for pregnancy? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Child death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Blood, Child abuse, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Excrement, Infidelity, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Suicide, Murder, Car accident, and Cursing

Minor: Vomit

tr4shc4n's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Murder, Violence, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Adult/minor relationship

reading_rainbows's review against another edition

adventurous dark relaxing

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

I listened to this straight and stayed up 2 hours past my bedtime without any idea of how late it was!   I'm generally a fan of post-apocalyptic stories and I really enjoyed this take from this bi/pansexual woman, a reproductive healthcare professional, perspective.  

***Note about CWs: bad things are seen as bad by narrator, and hard topics didn't feel hopeless***

My main content warnings:
Lots of dead bodies, 
Miscarriages/stillborns,
Sexual assault(1 in first person) most are mentions after,
Killing(self defense),
Child abuse(LDS child bride)
Women are traded by men for sex

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Child death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Trafficking

Minor: Abortion, Biphobia, and Alcohol

alyssatuininga's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

4.75

 I heard about this one on NPR and it seemed right up my alley- post-apocalyptic, science fiction with a midwife as the main character. There are no zombies, aliens, or evil creatures just a plague that wipes out most of humanity, especially women. The characters were fantastic and it had a very realistic feel to it- tense, sad, lonely, hopeful, and yet utterly painful. Please note that there is a lot of violence, especially sexual violence, and death. I listened to this one on audiobook and didn’t realize when I started that it is a trilogy (from what I understand each book is about a different person in the same world). It wasn’t the most mature writing (and a few of the author’s quirks annoyed me a little) but as it was written as a journal I could mostly let them go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Torture, and Child death

abbacirc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Infertility, Death, Slavery, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Child death

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, and Infidelity

v_nerdbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Infertility, Slavery, Sexual violence, Child death, Abortion, Child abuse, Death, and Miscarriage

katrinarose's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.0

Extremely bleak and tough read but I could not put it down. I loved the character of the unnamed midwife and the how well the author also developed even minor characters as they appeared. I also like the alternating style of her journal and omnipresent narrative. I was taken aback at first when we learned about characters and events that the midwife did not know about but it was satisfying (although sad). I like that the author didn’t shy away from the brutal realities of this post-apocalyptic world, and didn’t sugarcoat her view of human nature, as depressing as it was. This book is definitely not for everyone (between the triggering content, narrative style, and somewhat bare plot) but I really liked it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Blood, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Homophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, and Sexual content

Moderate: Abortion, Grief, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

polo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Very entertaining. I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but it had an interesting main character and I enjoyed the historical perspective, along with the way many stories criss-crossed into one another. 
PLEASE read the content warnings on this one before you start. Not kidding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Death, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, and Suicide

erenreads12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

How glorious to read a post-apocalyptic novel handled by a woman. The impact of the narrative voice is hugely important and powerful, supporting a tight, dark and surprisingly hopeful story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Outing, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Death, Rape, Violence, Sexual content, Murder, Child death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Torture and Adult/minor relationship

kat1105's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Self harm, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit