cmbohn's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

4.5


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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

overall, i really enjoyed this book but it lost a star due to the length. i think it would have really benefitted off of being edited down quite a bit because it became very drawn out

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mrsdarcylynn's review against another edition

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5.0

What a wild story! This book is so important to read, especially when understanding the evolution of women’s rights, mental health history, and legal processes surrounding “dependents”. This story was hard to stomach, but well worth the listen! 

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znvisser's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

3.5

This was an interesting, inspiring and infuriating story at the same time and I am thankful for Kate Moore for narrating it. I do love narrative nonfiction so I lost myself in this story very quickly, but unfortunately I did find out as quickly that the applied style of storytelling was actually not my cup of tea.

In one of the many tidbits after the actual story the author elaborates on how she intentionally added "reveals for dramatic purposes".  I wish she didn't, because those were my biggest annoyance about this book; the reveal method made me distrusting of her as a storyteller, ruining my reading experience at times. I don't mind myself a surprise or twist, but I do mind reading for tens of pages and made believe explicitly one way, only to be consequently patronized with a "the joke's on you because meanwhile everything else was different!" That's just a waste of words and there certainly are more elegant ways to achieve mystery or suspense. In fact in this case, I think the plot was entertaining enough in itself and didn't require the manipulation applied at all. 

Elizabeth was a very interesting character, both intellectually and socially, but I couldn't understand how those two things interacted. How did such a brilliant woman keep making the mistake of trusting the same villains again and again? Afterwards I'm still curious if that paradox was a narrative choice as well, or her actual character. Because I do believe Moore did her research elaborately, I may have to believe the latter. All in all, in between the manipulating I did enjoy reading this story and getting an insight in this piece of history I had no prior knowledge of. Radium Girls has also been on my radar, and I've seen reviewers with similar objections to this book appreciating that one nevertheless (but also some same complaints), so we'll see if I might still pick that up in the future.

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matcha_cat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0


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lizardflake's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad slow-paced

5.0


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charlotte_trimmer's review against another edition

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.25


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cammiem8's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

4.5

Her husband gaslights her. 
Her doctor gatekeeps her in an asylum for years. 
She girlbosses her way out. 

Jokes aside, I really loved this book and preferred it to Radium Girls by miles. Moore’s biggest downfall is that she simply can’t seem to cut things out of her books, but despite the length, my attention was held the entire time. The story was so human and compassionate, and the kindness of its protagonist gave my heart sympathetic little flutters throughout.

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lpdx's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5


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aiyam's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

Elizabeth Packard is one of my favorite feminists so I was extremely excited to find this book. Kate Moore absolutely did her story justice.

The book goes in-depth from the beginning of her first confinement to the end of her life, with all of her accomplishments as a free woman. I found the outsider's point of view interesting. Knowing what the doctor was writing in his files, what her friends were advocating for, and what her husband was doing back home was fascinating, especially as Packard herself didn't know any of it. That decision from the author really highlighted for me just how isolated and in the dark Packard was kept. 

Packard's story is one of injustice and anger, and I felt every emotion with her while reading this. If you call yourself a mental health advocate or a feminist then this story is an absolute must-read. 

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