Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Dance Tree by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

26 reviews

edamamebean's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Every once in awhile a book comes along that makes reading feel like a fever. This was definitely one of those books, once I was reading it I couldn’t stop and the ending brought tears to my eyes. I highly recommend but please check the content warnings before picking this one up!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Outing, Grief, Infidelity, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Violence, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal death, Classism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcoholism

rachelle_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense 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

The historical setting of this book, and particularly the dancing plague, was one that was not familiar to me before reading this story. I think the author did well in depicting the natural setting as well as the political and religious forces working at that time. It did take some time to build this world for the reader, but I don’t think the overall pacing suffered. The second half was gut wrenching. I look forward to reading more by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Lesbophobia, Infertility, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Islamophobia

wordsofclover's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility

Moderate: Violence and Homophobia

Minor: Racism, Death of parent, and Child death

jesselynn's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A very emotive and dramatic story set in and around Strasbourg in 1518, at the time of the infamous Dancing Plague.

We follow Lisbet, a heavily pregnant young woman who keeps bees alongside her husband and mother-in-law. Lisbet is desperate for her unborn child's survival, due to multiple previous miscarriages, which wounds her and familial relationships deeply. When her husband's sister Agnethe returns from seven years in the mountains atoning for a mysterious sin, the path of her life is forever changed.

The content is very emotionally stimulating, with really moving and detailed language and a narrative that is very centred around Lisbet's feelings and emotional state. The cast of characters are interesting, with Lisbet's sister-in-law Nethe being a favourite of mine. The story explores a very harrowing sapphic relationship, as well as themes of religious fervour, immigration and xenophobia. The story is not an account of the Dancing Plague as such, but the events of the summer and strange event are an atmospheric setting, the rhythm of the dance weaved throughout Lisbet's story in interludes. The novel is much more character focused than a simple retelling, which I liked. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially women's historical fiction. Tread carefully if pregnancy, infertility and miscarriage is a trigger point for you. 

Thanks to Picador for the reading copy in exchange for an honest review. I'll definitely be recommending this one to my customers and am looking forward to future works from Kiran Millwood Hargrave!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Xenophobia, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Confinement, Death of parent, Infertility, Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Classism, and Miscarriage

lbutcher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Religious bigotry, Violence, Pregnancy, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, and Homophobia

bkschwartz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Infertility, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Lesbophobia

jcinf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

It took me a while to get through this book, mostly because my life has been so busy. It did feel a little slow at first, but that could be a result of me just not being able to sit down and let it build momentum. 

That said, once I set aside the time to read, I really enjoyed it. Historical fiction is a beloved genre of mine, and this book did not disappoint. 

A plague — especially such an obscure one, a romantic subplot, a window into medieval times, a reflection on women’s rank in society… so good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Death, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Xenophobia and Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

safiya's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicide, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Infertility

erinrenee's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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? N/A

4.75

The Dance Tree is a lyrical and vivid tale of secret love and loss set against the backdrop of the real-world dancing plague of 1518 in Strasbourg, France. Outside the city, pregnant Lisbet's simple but structured life is upended when Nethe, her sister-in-law, returns from years of exile for a crime that no one will reveal. Within the city, citizens suffer from starvation, a brutal heat wave and an oppressive city council called the Twenty One. When a woman begins to dance in the city square, only stopping at the point of exhaustion, others begin to join her, and their numbers begin to grow. Believing their best path to a cure and end of the mania is to force the dancers to continue the Twenty One bring in musicians and build stages. As the dancing mania escalates Lisbet's carefully crafted life begins to unravel when a group of musicians are placed as boarders at their home and the reason for Nethe's exile slowly becomes clear.  Full of suspense and richly detailed emotions, The Dance Tree is a lyrical story of a woman weighed down by loss who finds hope in the chance for new life. 

Atmospheric; Suspenseful; Thought-provoking; Descriptive; Lyrical; Richly detailed

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility

nixicat1's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Miscarriage