Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

28 reviews

thegirlwhoreadsbooks13's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Torture, Violence, and War

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

ashley_1206's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5 ⭐️

i read this book for school and i actually liked this one! it was so interesting to see the holocaust from so many different perspectives. watching how all of the three stories connected as truly so so beautiful. i would recommend this!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Torture, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Death, Genocide, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, and Self harm

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

ireri's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual harassment, Slavery, War, Torture, Sexual assault, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt

nicole1832's review

emotional reflective 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? No

2.5

I'm having a hard time understanding why this book is so popular. It is simply not well-written. 

The three point of views interested me at first, but by the end of the book, I was only interested in one of them. Caroline's socialite life felt vapid compared to the hardships Kasia went through, and reading about Herta became uncomfortable by the latter part of the book. I had a hard time understanding how Caroline's and Herta's POVs justified their presence in the context of the overall story, which was at its heart really about Kasia.  (Side note: the cover of this book is *very* misleading. It implies that the three POV characters eventually become friends. That is very much not the case.) 

The book seems to want to be an examination of the emotions of these three women, but it always seemed to back away when things got most interesting. This was clearest in Herta's POV - she went from being horrified at what was happening at the camps to being complicit in it at what felt like breakneck speed. I understand not wanting to delve into a Nazi's POV, but if you're not going to fully explore it, why bother giving her a POV at all? 

Meanwhile, Caroline's behavior and attitudes toward her romance arc were hard to understand. Her arc became frustrating to read toward the end and ultimately felt unnecessary. And Kasia had problems with PTSD and anger later in life that were glossed over and ultimately resolved in a way that felt insultingly simplified.

On top of all that, the writing felt trite and amateurish, easy to read but ultimately failing to create any kind of mood. (And this book had some of the dullest hetero romances possible.) 

I was interested in the first half, simply because WWII stories, and stories about the horrors of the concentration camps, will always be powerful. But the importance of the historical subject matter is really all the book has going for it, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Death, Death of parent, and Medical content

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, War, Body horror, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

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

ems_rxlibrary's review

challenging dark informative 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Rape, Antisemitism, Sexual violence, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy

silversparkles50's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Genocide, Death, Confinement, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Violence, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Incest, and War