Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Five Wounds by Kirstin Valdez Quade

27 reviews

anna_rubin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Car accident

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Homophobia, Drug use, and Medical content

Minor: Pedophilia and Physical abuse

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

---

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.

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

reneejross's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness

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. 

---

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

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.”

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

kitty03's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Car accident, Self harm, and Cancer

stacey_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Terminal illness, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual content, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

emilyeehaw's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective sad

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

woof there was a lot going on this book! but it had a lot of elements that i enjoy, a complex and nuanced family relationship being one of them! i enjoyed getting to read the dynamic between amadeo, angel, and yolanda.

there were several moments i wanted to pick amadeo up by his neck and shake him around. reading about his alcoholism and how it affected his ability to be there for his family was hard. but it made it all the more satisfying when he had a his ‘come to jesus’ moment towards the end of the book. (when i thought what had happened with connor ACTUALLY happened…wow i was about to be so mad at this book.) 

i loved angel as a character. she was trying so hard and was navigating the shitty hand she had been dealt all while trying to raise her baby. and deal with her dad. and her grandmother’s illness. and her maybe feelings for a friend…..she needed a hug FOR REAL.

for all of their hardships and the difficulties they faced as a family unit, i really do like that the book ended on a hopeful note. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual assault