Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

5 reviews

writewithapendragon's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Vomit, Gaslighting, War, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, and Death of parent

gayghostprince's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Child death, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, War, and Confinement

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

I liked the gothic horror aesthetics that it brought, but as I read further, the story felt jumbled. There were ghosts, magic, math,

attempted necromancy, a dash of alchemy, and a time paradox thrown in?

I could get down with a lot of the book but parts kind of felt like the author just wanted to throw some things in for the hell of it. 
I would kind of agree with people saying this was all vibes and no real substance. Like if you liked Crimson Peak, this book gives a very similar feel. Yes it touches on guilt/shame, PTSD, and grief, but it was kind of sprinkled on top of a lot of nothing and a lot of everything at the same time. A slow read in many parts, where some of it dragged on and on but in the book's timeline it hadn't even been a month. Jane as the mc was interesting at first, like yes brainy independent person!, but devolved quickly into a lovestruck, dependent person in less than a week. With how she was described in some parts of the book though, it made me think she was neurodivergent/neurodiverse (super into a special interest, had difficulty in social gatherings like it mentioned she had trouble with small talk and eye contact "she had taught herself to make eye contact and to handle small talk, and how to smooth over how indelibly odd she was", she was uncomfortable among the crowd at her marriage, etc) which was cool. She had potential but in the end was lacking in a lot of aspects for me.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Vomit, Drug use, Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The secondary world element elevates the thing and frees up the story to play with all kinds of spooky occultist stuff without any concern for history (though some of that constructed history is... questionable, and doesn't serve much purpose; everyone deciding to collectively be atheist after a world war is a jarring note that fades into the background as the story goes on). The gothic mystery and tension building and inevitable descent into chaos are all well handled, though honestly I could never care all that much about Augustine, who comes across as a tedious drip at best. Scary and tight enough to be riveting while you read it, though, and the flaws come clear only on reflection. What more can you ask?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

orangewitchling's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma