Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

22 reviews

disguisedposer's review against another edition

emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Grief, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Kidnapping, Rape, Death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Violence

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Ableism, Self harm, Grief, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Vomit, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Suicide, and Pregnancy

tedworm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

I listened to this as an audiobook and finished it over two days of commutes and lunch breaks. Couldn't put it down! I liked the pacing and I found Sally hugely endearing, but I don't quite feel like it stuck the landing for me. Maybe I'm just not crimebrained enough but I wonder if I would have preferred this story as a novella purely about Sally, without Peter's POV chapters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Death, and Sexual violence

ripxw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexism, Death, and Rape

Minor: Racism and Homophobia

ta_ma_ra_gj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Slavery, and Sexism

Minor: Lesbophobia

rosamund4096's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

It took me a little while to get in to this book but soon I was gripped and couldn't put it down. I found the ending a bit unsatisfying, I would have liked a bit more time to see the impact of the book's resolution on the different characters.

I found Peters arc a bit frustrating, at times he seemed totally lucid and in touch with what was right and wrong, which was hard to believe as it wasn't clear what had changed to alter his thinking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, Violence, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Torture

nicolestegall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

Although this was a tough read, I could not put it down. And could not stop thinking about the characters. This will stay with me a very long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, and Medical trauma

knit_the_resistance's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Everything about the book is gripping, upsetting, and unsettling... Until the last 4 paragraphs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Death, Blood, Vomit, Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Gore, Grief, Slavery, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Racism, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Sexual violence

frankensteinscreature's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book really hooked me. The opening reminded me of We Have Always Lived in the Castle which is always a positive thing! I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending, I think I was hoping for more twists and turns but this was still a fascinating book that held me all the way through a long train journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Rape, Confinement, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Racism, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Death, Child death, Torture, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

nnnbrs's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Sexual violence, and Violence

This is a mismatch of thoughts to myself after reading the book. - fascinating the way Sally uses observations from movies and TV to inform her behaviour as she works with her therapist - I didn't love the way the ending unfolded, but it felt acceptable. - I wish Peter could have come clean to Sally and I believe she could have held his complexity as victim and perpetrator. Or maybe she could have figured it out herself! - Sally: grows/changes, develops relationships, was negleted and violently abused, is a woman - Peter: does not change, isolated and perpetuates his father's patterns, was abused through manipulation and coercion, is a man - I was outaged reading the final chapter where Sally has seemingly regressed and returned to mistrusting people, but Angela's note made me surprise cry! Trauma is not linear. Her community refusing to fragment around her was a lovely touch. - Love the linking of music throughout the generations (Conor, Sally, Amanda). What might it mean to recognize parts of ourselves we see in our monsters, and to make different meaning out of it?