Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

46 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

kaylaannsreads's review

challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Hate crime, Confinement, Murder, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, War, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Terminal illness

vinzant99's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

I felt the love interest was unnecessary and the point of views felt disjointed and had a hard time staying interested. I appreciated the overall story but didn't like how the author brought it together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, War, Murder, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

kiwi2745's review

challenging dark sad

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Rape, and Genocide

Minor: Animal death, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

khaben31's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Deportation, Medical content, Medical trauma, Antisemitism, Death, and Genocide

Minor: Murder, War, and Grief

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

nlyssy99's review

emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, War, Medical trauma, Death, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

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

keeyoh's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Confinement, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Death, Grief, Deportation, Death of parent, and War

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