Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He

4 reviews

librarianlayla's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

This book hurts. It hurt me so much. I adored it.

Slow to start but it does pick up pace and I found myself unable to put it down, finally finishing it at 2am. 

It's raw and heartfelt and sad and tragic. 

If you love stories based on familial bonds, on tackling environmental issues and discovering one's purpose in life - this book is for you. But prepare your heart to break.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Vomit, Blood, and Cancer

bookcrushin's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.75

This book is told out of sequence with wild twists and very cool science and futuristic ideals for saving the world and the people in it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Cancer

Serious spoiler like end game spoiler:

the physical on page violence and suicide and murder are all bots but with realistic blood and pain

studiouspencil's review

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

SPOILERS-  

This book made me cry, and not in a good way. A big topic in the novel seems to be the nature of people- if we are inherently selfish, if we deserve to continue as a species, and most importantly, who counts as a person and who doesn’t. This is where the book fell apart for me, because the narrative repeatedly falls back on comparing passionate, spontaneous, AI/Robot Cee, who is not human, but “seems” human, with her “sister” Kasey. In many places the book itself seems to be arguing that Kasey, despite being biologically human, is not. Because she is autistic. Kasey is heavily coded as being on the autism spectrum through her social difficulties, muted emotional responses and cognitive empathy, and black and white, goal driven thinking. This book made me feel /bad/ about myself, it made me feel like less of a person as an autistic person, reading the way Kasey was portrayed. Kasey isn’t perfect, and I’m not saying she should be- her views even briefly slide into ecofascism, which I can never condone, but the way Cee then justifies almost murdering Kasey, the way other characters treat her, the way she thinks of herself- it all comes off as a deeply ableist portrayal of an outdated Theory of Mind portrayal of a young autistic woman. The plot has potential, the twists are amazing, but I could barely make it through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Drug use

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Terminal illness

Minor: Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, and Medical content

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

challenging hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, Murder, and Xenophobia

Minor: Body horror, Racism, and Sexual content