Reviews tagging 'Death'

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

44 reviews

dalmavatai's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

3.5

I really enjoyed the writing and character development in this book, I loved Lena & just wanted everything to work out for her. Towards the end it got pretty confusing which I didn't love but I think that was the purpose of the book, it just didn't perfectly align with my reading tastes. A solid medical horror though with very important & well executed commentary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Medical trauma, Racism, Violence, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Body horror and Cancer

helhas3letters's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Very readable. The plot hooked me completely and despite a few awkward turns of phrase, I raced through this one.
My main gripe, however, is that I felt the ending was rushed and left too open-ended. I wanted more concrete answers and explanations as to why half the events in the book occurred. I understand that a lot of modern fiction leaves things up to interpretation for the reader, but in this case it felt less 'up to interpretation' and more 'couldn't be bothered thinking of specific reasons why specific things happened'.
The ending was also unfortunately semi-spoiled for me by a way too on-the-nose and frankly reductive pull quote on the cover of the book. It was from Essence and read:

"Reminiscent of Jordan Peele's terrifying film Get Out."

If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean when I say that reading that quote essentially told me the entire ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death of parent, Medical content, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Cancer, Gore, Death, Colonisation, Torture, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Stalking, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

mandi_lea's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Racism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, Torture, Blood, Medical content, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Gore

mraddd's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Torture, Racism, Physical abuse, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Murder

Minor: Grief

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

Lakewood is a terrifying novel. Giddings inserts readers directly into Lena's mind so that we know exactly as much as she does about her new employer. Which is very little. This allows Giddings to create a creeping sense of terror as more and more goes wrong during the Lakewood experiments. There were a few top-notch body horror moments in this novel that really scared the crap out of me.

The truly terrifying thing about this book, though, isn't the body horror or the corporate gaslighting. It's the fact that, though the contents of this book are fictional, they are based on a legacy of horrific white supremacist reality. Consistently throughout U.S. history, people of color have been unwittingly used as guinea pigs for medical experimentation. Giddings interprets historical precedent into a modern, entirely fathomable racist hellscape.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Vomit

haylzno's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I think it had read this book rather than listened to it, I may have enjoyed it more. 
The cadence of the narrators speaking was...weird? For lack of a better word. Something about it was off and it took me forever to get over it (speeding it up helped) 

I will also say that I am not the target demographic for this novel, however I did enjoy the plot itself for the most part. But I also felt like I have been left with more questions than answers. 

That plot twist though. 

Holy moly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Death, Medical trauma, Racism, and Chronic illness

srhi96's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Blood

Minor: Addiction, Vomit, and Excrement

mar's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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: Racism, Gore, Blood, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Death, Torture, and Medical content

Moderate: Vomit, Grief, Confinement, Drug use, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness

peachani's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Death of parent

Moderate: Classism, Xenophobia, Blood, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Racism, Gore, and Mental illness

Minor: Gaslighting, Cancer, Child abuse, Vomit, and Ableism

bouebooks's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence