Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

13 reviews

emeister3's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

If you watched “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” and you still want to cry over true-story-inspired WWII trauma, then this book is for you. I can’t say that it’s for me, per se - it was my book club’s pick this month. I can say the following:

The second half of the book is much better than the first. The first 50% of the book alternates between 3 different female POVs and, as a result, I kept pinging between 3 different feelings - boredom, sadness, and shock. It had me feeling so downtrodden that I didn’t want to finish it. However…these atrocities are a part of history. They happened to real humans and, tragically, were committed by real humans. And their stories deserve to be heard, then to never happen again. As Norman Cousins wrote, “…what is told here is not a glimpse into the bowels of an imaginary hell but part of our world.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Cursing, War, Death of parent, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Rape, Torture, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Car accident, Rape, Medical content, Child abuse, Alcohol, Child death, Animal death, Cancer, Infidelity, Racism, Infertility, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Incest, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abortion

ariparip's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

There were unnecessary romantic subplot(s). I understand why the author wanted to use this device for one character (and she explained it in the author's note) but not the other; certain details felt like they detracted from the story and made a character less likable/relatable. In one instance it felt disrespectful.

Having Caroline throw a months-long tantrum after her lover's presumed-dead Jewish wife showed up on the doorstep (of their marital home!) left a sour taste in my mouth. Would that be emotionally complex? Of course! But it was already difficult to relate to a socialite. 

Even worse was having the Nazi doctor and a Polish prisoner have an implied queer moment, though I assume it was supposed to be one-sided. It just felt really disrespectful and as a queer Jewish reader with Polish ancestors that died in the Shoah it didn't sit right with me. 

The weird anti-communism shoehorned in towards the end was also bizarre, especially considering how much of the Polish resistance was comprised of socialists and communists. Other than aaaall that lol the book was well-researched, with vivid descriptions and characters that were properly fleshed out rather than just copied from historical texts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, War, Self harm, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Genocide, Confinement, Death of parent, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Infertility, Torture, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, and Cancer

meg_elyse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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: Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Suicide attempt, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Deportation

Moderate: Sexism, Racial slurs, Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Self harm, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Cancer, and Colonisation

karingforbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Not the most memorable concentration camp book I’ve read. I haven’t read about Ravensbruck so that was interesting and horrifying. But I didn’t connect with the characters meaningfully or find the plot particularly compelling. I think the pacing was a bit off and it was a broad story arc. Without the narrowed in pieces that make it more compelling. But it was fine overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Cancer, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Death, Deportation, and Medical content

saliwali's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Deportation, Genocide, Police brutality, War, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Antisemitism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Torture, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Murder, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Animal death, Hate crime, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Blood, Rape, Sexual assault, and Infidelity

mnatale100's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death of parent, Grief, and Deportation

Moderate: Antisemitism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Self harm, Infertility, Murder, Gore, Violence, Torture, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Animal death, Lesbophobia, Slavery, Alcohol, Ableism, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Xenophobia

bethsbooketlist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? N/A

5.0

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 - I needed a book to get me out this slump I have found myself in, and boy WHAT A BOOK! Devoured in 48 hours, I was hooked by this historical fiction epic circling around three women and their experiences of WW2 - two of them real people. Their stories could not be more different, and I was especially interested in the perspective of Herta Oberheuser, camp doctor of Ravensbrück. I have heard stories from many survivors but not from the other side, and her perspective just fascinated me in how she could show such plausible deniability. The writing was emotional and raw, and sucked me in completely from page one. The plot flicking between New York, Lublin and Ravensbrück kept you on your toes and added variety - I was intrigued how these stories would eventually connect but it was done incredibly well. Overall, I adored this book that's been on my TBR for so long, and I can't wait to read more from Kelly

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, Genocide, Murder, and Slavery

Moderate: Cancer

maddiet425's review

dark hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Medical content, Child death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Death, and War

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Cancer

beabates's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Hate crime, Infertility, War, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Death, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Antisemitism, Grief, and Genocide

kweaver_pdx's review

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Genocide, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Cancer