Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

6 reviews

sharkgirl45's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Medical content, Vomit, Physical abuse, Death, and Suicide attempt

laura_keoski's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

Things I enjoyed about this book: the lush prose, the moody atmosphere, the historical scientific explorations, the mystery of the serpent, the potential of some of these unique characters.

Things that got in the way for me: The book relied heavily on character development, but most of the characters still felt under-developed and one-dimensional. They were so one-dimensional that they couldn’t seem to predict the rather obvious behaviors of their fellow characters.  The ending of the book was a less revelatory experience as the reader than it was for the characters themselves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Death, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Ableism

Minor: Domestic abuse

turning_every_paige's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Domestic abuse

innerweststreetlibrarian's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This feels less like a novel and more like an observation of the intersecting lives of the characters over a period of time. The presence and fear of the serpent is  pervasive, it changes people’s behaviour and impacts the way they live their lives. The writing is excellent, the narrative interesting enough to be unpredictable and it held my attention, but not engrossing enough to read it fast. I could have happily read a chapter a month and kept pace with the passage of time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Medical content

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Infidelity

elzibub's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Ableism

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Dementia, Grief, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

tqlikesbooks's review

relaxing slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I haven't got much to say about this. Though I recognise it is a very well written and crafted novel, it just didn't work for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Miscarriage and Infidelity