Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

38 reviews

snazzy10101's review

challenging dark tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Addiction, Body horror, Cancer, Grief, Chronic illness, Blood, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Misogyny, Gun violence, Hate crime, Confinement, Gore, Rape, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Racism

megelizabeth's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

3.0

This has a great premise and explores really important themes - I particularly appreciated how honestly and frankly it gets to the root of poverty and the desperate situations and decisions it can lead people to - but sadly it didn't quite work for me overall. It's very trippy and dreamlike and disconcerting - which would have been fine had there been more to the ending, but, while there are a few well-done creepy bits throughout, in the end it all just falls a bit flat. I was left feeling pretty distant and a bit confused and I just unfortunately don't think this had the impact that it could have done with the same concept but better execution.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Cancer, and Vomit

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I think if there was ever going to be a book that gives me nightmares, it’s Lakewood. 

After losing her grandmother and struggling to care for her ailing mother and deal with mountains of debt, Lena accepts an offer to participate in a research study that seems too good to be true. It pays well, offers full coverage health insurance for her mother, and would set them up comfortably if she can just last a year. The studies claim to be changing the world, but the white scientists don’t seem to care much what happens to the Black test subjects along the way. Maybe not much has changed after all. 

I thought I knew what I was getting myself into reading Lakewood, but it was so much more and so much worse (in a good way) than I was expecting. It is shocking, it is horrifying, and worst of all, it feels entirely plausible. My jaw dropped, my heart raced, my head spun. This may not be labeled as horror, but it absolutely is, and it’s horror done WELL. Lakewood is going to sit with me for a long, long time. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Confinement, Physical abuse, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Stalking, Death of parent, Death, Dementia, Gore, Blood, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Minor: Alcohol and Trafficking

balladofreadingqueer's review

dark mysterious 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? No

4.0

This was an interesting book about a university-aged woman who drops out to join a mysterious medical experiment job to get money and health insurance to help her sick mother. All the subjects in the experiment are black and the observers are white. The book reminds me of the Tuskegee and other experiments. 

It addresses themes of racism, family, poverty and friendship. It does not have a satisfying ending unfortunately, I wish that it had ended with a more clear description of what had happened.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Cancer, Blood, Chronic illness, and Death

alchamp's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gaslighting, Racism, Murder, Chronic illness, and Medical content

ireadtoescape_'s review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

So this book was very unsettling. And I was intrigued by that. 
I was really drawn in by the plot as well. 
But it all fell a little flat for me and I honestly struggled to finish it. There was no follow-through in most of these plot lines. 

I also didn’t find myself connecting with Lena at all. I think her decisions and lack of suspicion for most of the book had me disconnecting from her. Especially in comparison to how her struggles at the beginning of the book really did pull at my empathy. She really was going through a lot and at first Lakewood made sense as a choice. Even when she had that eerie feeling it was mentioned once and that was that. But things just kept on going and going in this endless miasma of chaotic and alarming situations that I didn’t feel yielded much at all except to shock me as the reader. Nothing was resolved so it still makes no sense. The family history also didn’t go far enough to connect the dots.

I stuck it out but it wasn’t easy and I’m not feeling satisfied at all. Honestly, it was just an endless cycle of the experiments and their consequences to the people but to no specific end. I don’t know if it would have helped if the book was longer. But sadly, I couldn’t connect with it as much as I’d hoped.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Cancer

kather_doc's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Vomit, Confinement, Classism, Body horror, and Blood

killmoore_'s review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.5

I wanted to love this. It was an addictive read that fell flat for me. As stated in previous comments, I believe this would have been perfect as a novella, but as a full length novel it was lacking substance and depth, and was incredibly frustrating. 

There were a few moments that could have been pure horror, but Lena's need to be detached and emotionally void dampened the effect, which was disappointing. 

I'd recommend as a conversation starter for a book club, or someone looking for a truly interesting concept written as a "stuff happens" sandwich. It begins, stuff happens, then it ends. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Racism, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Confinement, Blood, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Terminal illness

spineofthesaurus's review

tense

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Violence, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Torture, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Stalking, Abandonment, Murder, Classism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Cancer, Drug abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Slavery, Vomit, Addiction, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Trafficking

Minor: Car accident, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

ericaburns1's review

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Cool concept and themes. Unsatisfying ending with no real conclusion.  No questions fully answered. I don’t necessarily want everything spelled out for me, but I wanted more to the end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Torture

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders