Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

16 reviews

corriejn's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Police brutality, Violence, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Torture, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Antisemitism, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Vomit, Death of parent, Self harm, and Rape

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

emilyrollande's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Such an interesting + harrowing story + I enjoyed the POVs of the 3 different women. Definitely could have done with less focus on Caroline’s relationship with the married character Paul though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Murder, Rape, Antisemitism, and Child death

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

caroline_hutchison's review against another edition

challenging sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Genocide, Antisemitism, War, Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Murder

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

may_alyse's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Death of parent, and Genocide

Moderate: Medical trauma and War

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Rape, and War

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