Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

41 reviews

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

kelishiaradhalal's review against another edition

dark hopeful fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Incest, and Rape

scoobygirl93's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Infertility, Blood, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Miscarriage, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, and Medical trauma

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

scenic92's review

adventurous dark tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, Pregnancy, Medical content, Rape, and Miscarriage

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

hngisreading's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Murder, Slavery, Grief, Miscarriage, Medical content, Rape, Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicide, Gun violence, Death, Physical abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Violence, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

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