Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Gregg Olsen

6 reviews

danimacuk's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Murder, Confinement, and Chronic illness

Minor: Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Suicide

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.0

     The narration was amazing for a non-fiction book. The book also kept me interested and engaged. I would have liked to know what happened with the sisters' estate in more clear terms. I'm shocked but not that this woman was never truly stopped. It's horrifying. 
       As someone who's struggled with disordered eating, I know how little function you have when you limit calories to an extreme. So I can understand how she manipulated people when their brains weren't functioning properly. When you're not getting enough food your body shuts down complex thoughts and the like, to direct calories/nutrition to essential tasks like breathing.
Overall a very interesting and horrifying book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Body horror, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Excrement, Confinement, Body shaming, Death, and Chronic illness

bookswithmybulldog's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Excrement, Torture, Confinement, Medical trauma, Vomit, Physical abuse, and Eating disorder

faefires's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad slow-paced

3.0

the story behind this book is riveting, full of scheming and mystery, and for the first third of the book, it is told very well. unfortunately, this book could have benefited from being 150 pages shorter. it drags in the middle as the reader is forced to sit through painfully detailed trial testimony that is only tangentially relevant, and extensive histories of side characters. the story is certainly chilling, and the writing is strong, but the pacing made me skim and wish i had just listened to a true crime podcast covering this instead. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcoholism

queenbeemimi's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.5

A little too conversational at times— I question if the research could really be good enough to render dialogue or feelings so precisely— but a good time, for all that it’s about something horrible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Eating disorder

bayleyburgess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder