Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

11 reviews

lexithelion's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

4.75

Wow, what a captivating novel. I went into it not really knowing what it was about or how intense it was going to be. I was a bit caught off guard in the first 3rd of the book because of how blatantly head-on it is on the topic of racism. As a white person myself, I feel the same way Jodi did writing this book as I was reading it; I want to understand and adjust my perspective to better face the injustice in this world and after reading this I feel as though I am less lost on how I can help. This story is not only based on a true one, but the fictional characters feel so real as if this did actually happen. Every character has a fully fleshed-out backstory and motive for their present actions. Every character feels as though they were written by a different author, creating incredible character diversity. They feel authentic and make the story feel well-timed and not rushed. I do wish that more was written about Edison, however, as we started to see his character change throughout the novel without really an answer as to why or what triggered this. I thought it would have been interesting to read how Ruth and Edison's dynamic changed as Edison faded out of being this 'perfect American high-school scholar' archetype.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Antisemitism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Death, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, Gore, Medical content, Suicide, Racial slurs, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Cursing, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Medical trauma, and Sexism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Excrement, and Blood

kindacrunchymama's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

nicoleolander's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Child death, Death, Grief, and Medical content

inirac's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Xenophobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Child death, Racial slurs, Death, Racism, Antisemitism, Grief, and Hate crime

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Blood, Self harm, and Medical trauma

cheaploaf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was a ride. I really appreciated the 3 different angles it was told from. It was captivating, it was hard to put down. As a white person, it’s a book that made me think and reflect a lot. I appreciate Jodi Picoult’s author’s note and how extensive the research she did for the book was. I think it’s super important as a white author to be able to use your platform to talk about issues such as race.

I’m glad that the story didn’t revolve around white saviourism and that Kennedy didn’t even win Ruth her trial, the case was just acquitted. At first it seemed crazy to me that someone like Turk could end up on the complete opposite of the spectrum but I guess there are people out there like him in the real world.

Would absolutely recommend this book to anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Child death, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Murder, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Slavery, and Miscarriage

vanesst's review against another edition

challenging tense fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Police brutality, and Abandonment

Minor: Blood, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Alcohol

jamiejanae_6's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad tense 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexism, Antisemitism, Body horror, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Blood, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism

jodieworton'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? It's complicated

4.0

I am always conscious of reading books that are written by white authors that explore Black racial issues (whilst being from a POV of a POC) BUT I was extremely surprised with how well this book comes across. There was also an authors note at the end of the book which goes into detail as to why she needed to write this story and also her consciousness as a white woman, writing a story about issues that she would never have faced. 

The book was not perfect, and did feel at times a checkbox was being made as we went along, specifically to do with Ruth and her Son.

The story is told from 3 pov’s, a black nurse, Ruth, a white supremacist, Turk, and a white attorney, Kennedy. the story begins with Ruth working her jobs as a labour and delivery nurse, who happens to be working when Turk and his wife are admitted into the hospital for the birth of their chil. Ruth is not in the room when the birth takes place, however, they are handed off to her when she comes in for her shift to run the babies checks. As she is doing her job and talking to the new parents, it becomes clear something is off, the parents are silent and just staring at her. Ruth continues to care for the baby and even offers to help the mother, Brittany, with getting the baby to latch. At this point Turk tells Ruth to step away and to get her manager. 

It then transpires that this couple are White Supremacists and do not want any African American staff to touch, assist, look after their baby. The manager of the ward complies with their request and puts a note in their file. This of course, offends Ruth and she wonders why her manager does not have her back, her manager compares this to someone having different religious views - this is very different.

What later transpires is Ruth is left alone with the Supermacists baby whilst an emergency is happening, all the team were aware that Ruth was the only person who could watch the baby. 

Whilst she is watching him, the baby goes into cardiac arrest and Ruth is faced with a dilemma, to not do anything (like the note in the file says) or to intervene to try and save the babies life. She chooses the later, that is her job, but when her boss come back to check on her, she sees ruth just looking at the baby, as if she hadn’t done anything (even though she had, but it was likely too late for Ruth to save the child) at this point, her boss steps in and tells her to start compressions. 

The baby dies, Ruth is suspended, the hospital does not protect her and she is arrested for murder of the child. 

All the characters go on their own journeys whether that is Kennedy understanding her Client more than she did before and also the trying times Black/POC face, and Turk eventually seeing the flawed nature of his way of thinking (this felt a little to ‘and they lived happily ever after to me’) and with Ruth accepting what happened to her and making sure she spoke her truth.

I could write a lot about this book but this review is already quite long, I wanted to give a snippet into what the book is about and the important themes that are explored - I would recommend reading this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, and Hate crime

gem114's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

I understand what Jodi Picoult was trying to do here, and after reading her author's note, I accept and appreciate her efforts, but I still have a really hard time being fully okay with it. Picoult knows her audience, and I'm hoping some of her repeat readers benefited from reading this book. Hopefully Picoult is the medium they needed to face the issue of racism and do some introspection. Meanwhile, I'm just hanging out over here trying to stomach the number of times she uses the n word and that

the skinhead gets a redemption arc.

Yes, the story was engaging. Yes, Picoult is a pretty good writer. But yes, it gets super preachy. Overall, I'm feeling kind of meh about it for myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Racism, Medical trauma, Child death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Medical content, Homophobia, Classism, Pregnancy, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Hate crime

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

lesliesorensen's review against another edition

fast-paced

2.75

I feel like this is... a great book for white people who haven't really confronted race, racism, and white privilege before. And people who need to hear compelling stories about how racism affects individual people -- especially individuals who are extremely palatable & upstanding -- in order to understand and care about it. If you know what I mean.

It's a good message, but the writing / delivery felt forced & heavy-handed... Like, as you read, you sort of picture it playing out like a movie...and this is not a particularly good movie -- but it thinks it's gonna get that Oscar. 

It's also questionable for a white woman to write from the perspective of any Black person.

It did keep my attention though, and I enjoyed the change of character perspective throughout. I also appreciated how well-researched it was.

Bottom line: it was fine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Violence, and Suicide

Minor: Pregnancy