Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

46 reviews

kaelablue's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I haven’t read a book that made me feel this intensely in years lol. Books that make you yell at the characters as you’re wjiye

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Terminal illness, Sexism, and Cancer

Minor: Homophobia

schlady's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A realistic portrayal of a year in the life of an imperfect family living through even less perfect circumstances. Very strong writing in the senses of family & place in New Mexico, also well narrated as an audiobook. The main characters were overall likable even after making difficult, frustrating, unlikable choices; I really felt for all of them as their stories twisted and turned and intertwined.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Sexual content, Child abuse, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Blood, Medical content, Alcoholism, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Rape, Classism, Racism, Abortion, Drug use, and Drug abuse

emzireads's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

chelly_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Cancer, and Death

kld2128's review against another edition

sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cancer, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use and Injury/Injury detail

marijuanerareads's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug use, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Minor: Rape

annahelle's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

this is such a solid book! really glad i read it. the author did an amazing job at expressing the characters’ thoughts, insecurities, flaws, behaviors, etc. she was really good at describing facial expressions and body language too. just a great job exploring the interior lives of this family. i really felt like i knew the characters and their thought processes. great character development. definitely a character > plot narrative, but the story was still entertaining and devastating and emotional too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Dementia, Death of parent, Cancer, Alcoholism, and Addiction

Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Sexism, and Self harm

Minor: Blood, Incest, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Car accident, and Child death

stephalopuff's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer

mckeelyshannon's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

One of my favorite lines from this book was “What no one appreciates is that it takes courage—and considerable dramatic flair—to show up and insist you belong, to invoke genetic claims and demand food and love and housing.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

mimima's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

Somehow, when this crossed my path, the fact that it starts during Holy Week with the main character being crucified in a Good Friday procession caused me to put it on the "read during Lent" list.  
This was not an uplifting Lenten meditation.  However, instead I found a really well done family story about the aforementioned man, his 70-something widowed mother, his daughter who is both approaching her 16th birthday and the birth of her baby, his ex-wife, and other various and assorted people who he disappoints daily.  Told with humor and heart, it was a very heartwarming read, though not a faith-affirming one.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Addiction, and Alcohol