Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Homesick by Jennifer Croft

15 reviews

robyn1998's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

This was an interesting memoir but I don't really get why other reviews talk about how clever it is? Isn't it just a memoir with names changed and some photos included? Maybe listening to it as an audiobook took away some of the magic for me? 
I did enjoy it, especially the relationship between the sisters, but it felt really detached at times. Reminded me a bit of The Idiot by Elif Batuman, and not in a good way.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Chronic illness, and Suicide attempt

katerina_l's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

jhartsoe's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Self harm, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

happyknitter2020's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

1.0

Think it's me, but don't get the meaning of this book...?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness

emilyrowanstudio's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

Conceptually, this is a fascinating book. Flitting between third person prose and descriptions of photographs and meditations around language, translation and memory written in the first person.
Homesick was first published as fiction written in Spanish, then translated to English and published as a memoir including photographs. It was then rewritten and republished a third time as a novel without the photographs. The backstory is fascinating if you care to read into it.

The novel is about photographs, language, sisterhood, family, connection, translation, memory, travel, grief, and mental health. A lot of topics for a short book. I really enjoyed the blurred lines between novel and memoir, which brought a unique sense of an intimacy and tenderness.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book, chronicling sisters Amy and Zoe's childhood and early adolescence, and the ending, but my interest waivered a little around the third quarter. There were certainly poignant and beautiful parts to this story, however I feel overall that the unique style and concept of the story-telling carries the actual story that was told.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

rochelles_reading_journal's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Grief, Cancer, Medical trauma, and Self harm

shantastic_reads's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Suicide, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Medical content

randisworld's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

I didn’t like the writing style for lost if the book. During the first half I almost DNF’d but the subject matter is interesting and I enjoyed the material, just jot how it was communicated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual content

mappy's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

An unconventional but exquisitely crafted exploration of love, language and mortality. This is a work about connection and the self, and the 'mathematics of sacrifice' that often balance their equation. Each vignette seemed to mirror Amy's mental constraints, as a precocious girl battling to comprehend events that can never be understood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Chronic illness, and Mental illness

readersreadingnook's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Self harm, Addiction, Mental illness, and Chronic illness

Minor: Medical content