Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

74 reviews

swhitzel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated

2.5

 I have so many thoughts, all of them conflicting.

Generally, this was a beautiful story, but it also seemed quite abrupt (in its ending) and felt as though it had little resolution. Based on the synopsis, I expected more of a relationship to develop between the three main women, and yet the connections felt superficial and forced. They go nowhere, but they also had so much potential!

Also, the depictions of birth and the medical situations were quite graphic. I often found myself sick to my stomach at some of the descriptions, especially early on.

Now that I'm writing this, I think I enjoyed the potential of this story more than the actual story itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Pregnancy, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child death, War, Classism, Sexism, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicide attempt and Suicide

isaaah's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, and Child abuse

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Vomit, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Infertility, Suicide, Slavery, Excrement, Miscarriage, and Abandonment

lee_s's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Blood, Medical trauma, Child death, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Vomit

Moderate: Sexism

Minor: Lesbophobia

bessadams's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexism, Blood, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Death, Grief, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Vomit, and War

racheldallaire's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

It took me a little while to get into this one, but once I got into it I enjoyed it. It gives a very unique perspective into the influenza pandemic, maternity wards, and nursing in Ireland at that time. It would be a slightly higher rating if Donoghue used quotation marks-it drove me crazy to realize halfway through a sentence that someone was speaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death, Blood, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

There is a LGBTQ+ relationship mentioned briefly.

besidemyshelf's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Medical content, and Pregnancy

kiwialexa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

leontyna's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

It was a great book, although a bit terrifying. I thought I knew a lot about midwifery from my family, I was so wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Pregnancy, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Vomit, Sexual violence, and Violence

helzie_2023's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, and Gore

mjlease08's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Blood, Death, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Abandonment, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse