Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

35 reviews

kat1105's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Self harm, Slavery, Trafficking, Violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Vomit

larbster90's review

challenging dark sad 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? No

4.5

Incredible book, very compelling couldn't stop reading it. Definitely increased my anxiety, though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Child death, Infidelity, Body horror, Murder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug use, Infertility, Sexism, Trafficking, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Adult/minor relationship

katiedalton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It started out a little rocky regarding pacing. But once it got going it was really good. Very dark and while there was not a lot of plot or character development I still really enjoyed the story and how it developed. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Misogyny, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Suicide

leksikality's review

dark reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

Of the plague-decimates-population-via-infertility genre, this one does a pretty good job. It's no wonder it's won an award, and ought to win more.

The main character isn't necessarily likeable but I like her - and the way her attitudes/behaviour changes as the book progresses feels more natural than a lot of post-apocalyptic narratives.

I have read a lot of post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction from a broad span of time (it's my academic research niche so I'm pretty well exposed to it), this is one of the ones I got excited about reading.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, Violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide and Adult/minor relationship

batcaves's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Trafficking

horizonous's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, and Trafficking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness

◦ Medical trauma = Genital mutilation

shontellereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

 Really enjoyed this, so bleak and depressing but so so so good. Check the TWs!!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Slavery, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Murder, Gore, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Infertility

readmeem's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Infertility, Child death, Trafficking, Sexism, Medical content, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma

Minor: Miscarriage, Grief, Outing, Cursing, Self harm, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Gun violence

bex_knighthunterbooks's review

dark 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

4.5

Wow - bleak, atmospheric, incredibly dark but very readable and with a refreshingly queer perspective on the apocalypse. I love survival narratives, so really enjoyed all the minutiae about finding shelter, food etc. (and with birth control which doesn't feature enough in sci-fi!) but also enjoyed the bigger ideas around: what cultures and communities would develop and survive (not all good), female empowerment & sexual autonomy. This generally focussed on the small picture (which felt realistic given the rate of societal collapse meant that much would remain a mystery), but there were some story sections that explored wider narratives which I appreciated. I enjoyed the framing story, which also provided some hope from the start.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Infidelity, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Gun violence

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Homophobia

parchmentpages92's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Rape, Murder, and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicide