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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
emotional
inspiring
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
hopeful
inspiring
Really enjoyed this. It wasn’t a perfect book, but the author is really able to show how abortion is an essential
right for people at all stages of life. I appreciated that she integrated the perspectives of women at different points in their feminist journeys, and showed really well the various taxes motherhood takes on a person. More than anything, it makes me want to learn more about the actual history of Jane in Chicago.
right for people at all stages of life. I appreciated that she integrated the perspectives of women at different points in their feminist journeys, and showed really well the various taxes motherhood takes on a person. More than anything, it makes me want to learn more about the actual history of Jane in Chicago.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Not bad, but not a life-changing read either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
Based on a real group called the Jane Collective in 1960s/1970s Chicago, this novel follows fictional storylines of the women involved in an underground network that provided safe, accessible, clean abortions. Women from varied educational, socioeconomic, and life-stage situations, turned advocacy and feminism into action. Their stories are nuanced and detailed, as they each discover what choice means to them and how they reconcile that with their other roles, including wife, mother, sister, professor. It is engaging, complex, and thought-provoking. I will admit, at times, this pre-Roe v Wade story hit a little too close to home here in a post-Dobbs world. I felt sad, angry, frustrated, defeated, proud, hopeful, energized, and powerful. I’m still thinking about this book, months after I finished it.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
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:
Yes
A powerful, richly written story centered on womanhood and all the ways it existed—with children, without children, making a home, making a career, and so on—during a time when a woman’s right to choice and independence was next up on the Supreme Court’s docket.
(Sadly, in 2025, this 1970s setting felt a little too familiar. Should be required reading for all “pro-life” folks!)
(Sadly, in 2025, this 1970s setting felt a little too familiar. Should be required reading for all “pro-life” folks!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment