Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner

21 reviews

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a beautiful but heavy book about eugenics and the evils humans can perpetrate against each other.

I loved both the first part with Rosie, who is dealing with these themes in California, and the second part with Helen, who is dealing with these themes in Nazi-occupied Austria. The way the two stories paralleled was wonderful, because it really emphasized the way that some of the things that Nazi's did were still being done here in America both before and after the Nazis. However, I wish the book had gone back and forth between the two narratives. Separating the two reduced some of the impact of the parallels for me.

If you liked this one, consider reading Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez, which talks about similar themes. 
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ems_rxlibrary's review

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

5.0

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lyssalu22's review

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emotional hopeful sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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jjsbookcase's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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culinaryjules's review

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-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? No

4.5

A beautiful historical fiction novel about two women, how their lives impact each other, WWII, and eugenics. The stories are painful and beautiful. I loved this book. I can’t wait to read more by Susan Meissner. 
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thebookwormkatie's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-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

5.0

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sabra327's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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thebowandthebook's review

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The rape scene was graphic 
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kfrickle's review

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This book was very sad, and I was shocked at who the father of the child was. It was also more detailed with the situation than what I was willing to read. 
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siriface's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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