Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

13 reviews

anne_reader's review

adventurous inspiring sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual content, Medical content, Physical abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Suicide, Chronic illness, War, and Pregnancy

kailiyahknight's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Suicide, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Alcohol, War, Physical abuse, Blood, Torture, Rape, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Gore, Death, Cursing, Child death, Alcoholism, and Abortion

emily_koopmann's review against another edition

adventurous sad slow-paced

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicide, and Antisemitism

m4rtt4's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Saskia Maarleveld's narration made me finish the audiobook, she is so talented with all the different accents!! <3 I wish the story had contained more historical elements (=facts about the world wars, as I'm such a war nerd myself). This is rare for me to say, but I enjoyed the romance between Charlie and Finn more than anything else in the story (damn does my heart melt just thinking about them). Overall the book was a nice experience of travelling through time, though it also felt a bit dragging at times — I wouldn't have minded if it had been shorter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Abortion, Death, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Violence, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

emmehooks's review

adventurous challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I was not expecting to so throughly enjoy this book! Badass women spies, badass women defying social convention. The dual timelines wove together beautifully, there was just enough truth in the fiction to keep me interested, and I appreciated that most of the characters were “fallen” people by society’s standards. Absolutely would read another book by Kate Quinn or on this subject.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Torture, Grief, Biphobia, War, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Rape, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, Cursing, Excrement, Gaslighting, Antisemitism, Murder, Infidelity, and Alcohol

local_hat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Torture, War, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Genocide, Child death, Blood, Sexism, and Abortion

sabrina_d_arcy's review

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, War, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Torture, Abortion, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Excrement, Genocide, Mental illness, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

Loved it, but it was too long. Hear me out. 

This book is told from two perspectives in alternating chapter. 
In 1915, we follow Eve, who is trained as a spy and sent to Lille in German occupied France to gather and pass on information to the Alice Network, a network of British and French spies during WWI. 
In 1947 Charlie, a pregnant college student from the US, is searching for her cousin Rose who disappeared in France during WWII. She hires Eve to help with her search, and their stories intertwine more than expected. 

When I say, the book was too long, I mostly mean the first half. Charlie's story, especially compared to Eve's, feels really underdeveloped in the beginning. I like that we get to know the characters slowly and in a natural way during their travels together, and the payoff is really great in the end. But it was still hard to stay invested in Charlie's parts for at least the first 200-300 pages, because nothing actually happens. 

The rest of the book is just fantastic. The character work is amazing, so many strong female characters. I literally felt the tension during all the spy business scenes. Reading the author's note at the end, which explains which characters, events and details were real, made me realize how great their portrayal was in the book as well. Facts and fiction fit perfectly together. 

I liked how all kinds of aspects of women's lives during the wars/post-war are shown, the relationships between the characters, the focus on their mental state. I also think it was great to have a protagonist with a speech disorder who uses this weakness and turns it into a strength. But there are several scenes that were hard to read. Kate Quinn does not shy away from detailed descriptions of gruesome and bloody scenes. So yeah, definitely check out trigger/content warnings.

Lastly, one of the things that is really hard to pull off is a satisfying showdown/ending. And I think it was done masterfully here. A lot of times the showdowns in books are either too abrupt or too slow for me. This one is perfectly timed. I love the setting, the characters involved, the emotions, the dialogues, the action, the execution and resolution. All the little details come together nicely. 
And after the showdown we get an ending that's neither too short, nor too long. I'm really impressed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Abortion, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Child death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and War

lailams's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

This is an easy 5 stars for me, even as someone who doesn't necessarily like historical fictions. Turns out I only dislike historical fictions when the revolve (only) around men. This book is a stunning, heartfelt, and heartbreaking look inside the life of a veteran of war told through mystery that must be solved. Eve - as bitter and cold as she is - holds my heart in a vice grip, and I love her just as much as Charlotte, Fin and Alice. <Spoiler> It's been a long time since I've read a story with a happy ending, and with the events of the book, with Rose and Alice and Charlotte's brother and everyone else, I didn't dare hope that everyone would end happy. Eve's ending had me crying with joy on my commute to work. I'll be thinking about her for a long long time. </Spoiler>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Grief

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Self harm

Minor: Suicide and Abortion

madmantha's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Beginning was a bit slow for me but once it really begins to pick up, it does not stop. 
Both narratives blend together seamlessly in the final arc; everything comes full circle.
One of my favorite epilogues ever written; really pulled on the heart-strings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Gun violence, Grief, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Classism, Colonisation, Genocide, Outing, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Stalking, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Antisemitism, Confinement, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Minor: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Miscarriage, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infidelity, Infertility, Religious bigotry, and Self harm