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This book did not read like story. It read like a book report that was required to include a certain (read: WAYYYY TOO MANY) facts within it. Moore spent a lot of time discussing all the "girls" that worked with the Radium, but there were so many discussed, you are unable to get invested in any of them. I think if Moore would have followed the whole story of a one or even a handful of girls, the reader would be more invested in the story and it would have had more impact. As it stands the first 100+ pages feels a lot like the book of Genesis, with all the "xxx begat xxx" ad nauseam. I feel like the actual story of the girls has all the bones to make a really good book, but I feel like Moore missed the mark on this one. It was poorly planned out, read like she had writer's ADD, and involved a litany of characters that you wind up not caring about.
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Necessary history to know! Told in a compelling and women-centric way.
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🤯 I had never heard of the Radium Girls until recently, so I immediately added this book to my TBR. I listened to the audiobook on a road trip and it was engaging, yet the descriptions were horrific. I'm glad I listened to the audiobook because the book did drone on a bit at times, so listening at 2x speed was helpful. I appreciated the author's attention to detail and historical research - it really shined throughout the book.
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This was fascinating and frustrating read. Kate Moore knows how to weave a tail. But sometimes you just want to throw it across the room, because looking back with 2025 eyes, of course we know radium is dangerous. This book is sometimes gruesome, which is good, because the treatment of these women and their families is something we shouldn’t forget. A lot of workplace safety standards came about because of them. The last 2 lines of the epilogue hit hard, in 2025, as we watch regulations and recommendations be pulled back.
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
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We owe the radium girls much for the obviously necessary government oversight of employee safety at work.
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Unbelievable, devastating, and infuriating.
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Very important story, in a similar vein as "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." We owe a lot to the "Radium Girls."