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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Murder
repunzee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, and Grief
Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
shae_reads's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Miscarriage, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Police brutality, and Death of parent
Minor: Racial slurs
katiejohns's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Infertility, Suicide, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexism, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity and Rape
mdavis26's review
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
mjlease08's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
mrscooks_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
amandat's review against another edition
Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, and Abortion
jeebi1506's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, and Pregnancy
poisonenvy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It tells the story of three women whose stories start at different points in history, though all their stories do intersect at certain points: There's Evelyn, a young woman in the sixties who was forced to go to a home for Wayward Girls: aka, women who became pregnant outside of marriage and were forced to give up their babies. There's Nancy, a young woman in the 1980s who becomes pregnant and needs to seek out an illegal abortion, thereby stumbling on the Jane Network: an underground network that provided safe abortions for people who needed them. And then there's Angela, a woman who's undergoing treatments to become pregnant after she and her wife had struggled with fertility. The story kicks off with her discovering a letter from a mother, telling her daughter that she'd been adopted, and confessing that she discovered afterward that her birth mother had never wanted to give her up.
But more than any of these three women, the novel tells the history of abortion rights in Canada.
And I mean that literally. Unfortunately, none of the characters are especially fleshed out. They very often become mouthpieces, and seemed more like vehicles to relay the history of reproductive rights in Canada than characters that I could really bring myself to care about.
The prose was often clunky and stilted (and was in third-person present tense, which is my least favourite of all narration styles), and sometimes veered into dangerously purple territory. And, at times, the story just felt <i>contrived</i> so that we could be sure that the characters were where they needed to be. There was a surprise twist near the end that surprised me, and <i>not</i> in a good way (the surprise wasn't a bad one, it just didn't feel like it really fit and I wondered if it didn't raise some inconsistencies, though I'm unlikely to do a reread to find out if they're really there or not).
Criticisms aside though, this story is important, and tells a very important part of Canadian history. Marshall has clearly done her research, and while the story sometimes suffers so she could expound on that history/research, it was still very informative. I have no doubt that Marshall could have written a very good non-fiction book on the subject. Clunky writing aside, it's also very easy to read and digest.
And I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone who cares to learn more about Canada's history with reproductive rights, especially if they would prefer to have that information come in the form of fiction over non-fiction.
Graphic: Infertility, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Police brutality
Minor: Infidelity, Dementia, and Death of parent