Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

10 reviews

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. This is the nineteenth book I've read on this list. I thought I was going to struggle with this book being a non-fiction book, but my heart was hurting for this family throughout this book. 

This book is the story of the three daughters of China and it’s their family history that spans a century. Jung Chang recounts of three generations of women in her own family, the grandmother given to the warlord as a concubine, the Communist mother and the daughter herself. She reveals the epic history of China’s twentieth century. It is breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its descriptions. This story is heartbreaking and empowering.  

Usually I struggle with non-fictions book, I find them slow, boring and can never pay attention to what is going on that it feels like a drag. This book is heartbreaking and discusses heavy topics and is brutal with some of the descriptions, it was a book I managed to get through and I think this was due to the writing and how Jung had a way of getting her grandmothers and mother’s story across. It was heartbreaking and throughout the book I just wanted to hug these ladies. Even though I hate this generation, it made me thankful on where I was born.  

I wouldn’t say this book had any weaknesses, but I think that the length of the chapters sometimes made it a struggle to finish them and obviously some of the dark subjects, I was cringing a bit. I was glad that we got an ending, even though Jung Chang is still alive and well, so I don’t know if there is another book hopefully with the next generation with her children. But I'm hoping that they have all had a healthy and happy life.   

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: War, Misogyny, and Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, and Excrement

rdorrington's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, Child death, Police brutality, and Suicide

philosopher_kj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, War, Classism, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, and Body horror

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Xenophobia

Minor: Excrement, Abortion, and Drug use

alexhaydon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Gore, Torture, War, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, and Adult/minor relationship

josiee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Classism, Miscarriage, Confinement, Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicide attempt, War, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Torture, Rape, Police brutality, and Violence

montyalmoro's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Medical trauma, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, War, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Terminal illness, Violence, and Xenophobia

schnarlie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

A deeply fascinating book that helped me understand the history and politics of China while at the same time making me feel deeply with the described people. Highly recommend this to anyone Chinese or interested in China, but also might be interesting to those who aren't either.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child death, and Pregnancy

Minor: Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Classism, and Miscarriage

lu_ranger's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Suicide, War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Torture, and Police brutality

francestea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

5.0

Fascinating and amazing true story about a very recent time in Chinese history. If you’re intimidated by the size of this tome the audiobook is also quite good. A few parts lagged a bit but it still warrants a 5 star rating. If you’re looking for fiction on similar topics I recommend Madeleine Tien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing and Amy Tan’s Kitchen Gods Wife and Joy Luck Club.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

Moderate: Cannibalism, Confinement, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage and Suicide

Starvation, famine, forced labour

aristhecool's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion