Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Severance by Ling Ma

9 reviews

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Dementia, Drug use, Pregnancy, and Suicide

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this. It's literary sci-fi with plenty of commentary on immigration and late stage capitalism. I really loved the writing style and the descriptions of places. While I never completely love an open ending, I thought it worked quite well here. I wish I'd felt a little more attached to Candace but I was still gripped throughout. I haven't read many books like it but the most obvious comparison is Station Eleven, which I'm now considering re-reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, and Chronic illness

mirrorbug's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

Somehow I got it into my head that this was a tragicomedy when that is not what it was. Humor was not in the forefront, but it had its moments. I'd like to read it again without that preconception. Still really enjoyed it. Candace is a character I grew to respect more than anything and the worldbuilding was fantastic. It's crazy this book was released preCOVID, you definitely see some similarities there. I think the parts of seeing the apocalypse start to unfold felt so realistic and were definitely my favorite chapters in the book. Definitely worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Chronic illness, Grief, and Body horror

skyba3's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Chronic illness, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Classism, Addiction, Racism, Alcohol, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Cursing

itsalina's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Minor: Suicide and Vomit

laceyc1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug use, and Drug abuse

acherry913's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book was a deeply troubling but amazing read, especially now during the COVID pandemic. The novel follows a young Chinese-American woman through her journey of safety, self-actualization, and understanding of the world. Taking place during a fungal epidemic, the dystopian environment eerily matches our own, complete with N-95 masks and locked-down cities. Themes of womanhood and perseverance guide this narrative through explorative travels and self-reflection. This is a great book to understand the immigrant struggle from a nuanced lens and an altered perspective of our current pandemic. However, with its closeness to reality, I would emphasize that Severance is not for the weak of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, and Murder

houndoflove1985's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death, Pregnancy, and Confinement

f18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit