Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

49 reviews

audreads100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault

spaghettireads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I know that people don’t read full captions, so I feel like I want to say off the top that I don’t think that I recommend this! It was a book club selection, and while it did provide a good discussion, I don’t think that any of us really loved this.

The sub-genre of historical fiction that generally features women looking away on the cover is not one that I usually reach for. While I did find the writing in this relatively engaging, and I did want to keep reading it to find out what the twist was at the end, I thought that the book had a lot of issues. Perhaps the fact that a real life historical tragedy has been written with the vibe of a mystery is the problem. As one of my friends pointed out, it felt as though just everything bad possible was happening to the characters.

And while I said that I was waiting for the final details to be revealed at the end, a lot of the book felt very predictable. My book club also talked about how the portrayal of people of colour, and mostly Black people in this story was pretty terrible.

So, as I said I wouldn’t recommend this. Thanks as always to my book club friends for a great discussion 😊

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent

bexdubyah's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

emakay's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Dementia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, and Death of parent

jskell911's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Grief

bitesizedbeet's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I sped through this book, though it’s a tough read. I didn’t know anything about what Georgia Tann did going into it, but the author uses an informative yet sympathetic approach to telling the stories of those affected by her. Highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Bullying and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, and Death of parent

ashleycmms's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

morgan_elizabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Dementia, and Trafficking

ifersinklings's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a heartbreaking fictionalized account of what happened during the terrorizing reign of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children's home in the 1920s-1950. I wasn't aware of this situation and now I must go read all the things about this subject. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Dementia, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Torture and Trafficking