Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

164 reviews

bao_bao's review against another edition

hopeful reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Lesbophobia

bluegecko's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

An absolutely fantastic read and I could feel my inner dragon stir. Kelly Barnhill transports you into a world where you accept that dragons are a part of nature and when you finish you’re surprised they are not. Emotional, engaging and magical.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and War

Further warning for descriptions of menstruation.

darkefyres's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Misogyny, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

sarahholliday's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

Despite uneven pacing, this book is a beautiful meditation on female rage and the society-wide implications of shame and silence. The beautiful writing revealed a thoughtful story filled with wonderfully complex and nuanced characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Violence

kelseyr713's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

"He looked at the window, toward the sky. In a brief, wild moment, I imagined it filled with dragons. Burning houses. Burning buildings. Swallowing men whole. I imagined the entire Mass Dragoning happening again, but bigger this time—every city, every town, every block, dark wings and sharp jaws and bright scales crowding the sky. I imagined myself unleashed, unhooked, unraveled, an explosion of heat and rage and frustration. My bones felt hot. My skin felt tight. The air in my lungs seemed to sizzle."

This alternate history fiction is a love letter to women, libraries, and science. Under the surface, it’s also challenging notions of what should be considered "normal" and encouraging not ignorance and fear, but love and acceptance. I loved and devoured it.

Content warnings: homophobia, parental emotional abuse, death of parents, cancer, body horror (although I personally found the dragoning described beautifully, this may not be true for all readers).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror, Terminal illness, Grief, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Murder, and Pregnancy

emmiej's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Sexism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming

jet's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer and Fire/Fire injury

stayshomeandreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful

3.5

Loved this kooky feminist fantasy. I personally wish it was more fantasy than historical fiction but the characters were so lovable and the emotions so real that I didn’t even care by the end. Also anyone who says this book isn’t trans inclusive   didn’t actually read the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

sometimes_samantha_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

I liked it. It was fun having court testimonies and articles thrown in the mix between chapters. I liked those more than the character narration most times to be honest. It was a bit slow but I would still recommend it to someone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Death of parent