Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Паперовий палац by Miranda Cowley Heller

226 reviews

molly_may27's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

Unlikeable characters very graphic and repeated descriptions of child sexual abuse
Only redeemable quality is the actual writing but the content was either boring or horrific with no in between 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal death and Cancer

lucystyles's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

I think I must have skipped over the ‘trauma’ element in the blurb because this book ended up being a lot different to what I was expecting.

There are heavy themes throughout about sexual abuse and mother daughter relationships. I would say that these are the two main themes of the book, not really the affair.

I think the author wrote these themes really well and it really did leave me sucker punched at times, I feel like I really felt the weight of the characters. It also did a good job of portraying how these themes are prevalent in many women’s lives in one way or another, varying in severity.

Until the last paragraph this was probably more of a 4.75 for me but the ending was very vague. I think I know what happened but I’m not entirely sure, I guess it is open to interpretation, however I quite like to just be told what happened.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cancer

elevent11's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Abandonment

haleypages's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book was incredibly atmospheric and felt like an amalgamation of One Day and Where the Crawdads Sing. It was a slow start, but then I sank into it fully. It is so clear that the author has deep knowledge and love for the cape, and it seeps out of the pages. However, the event halfway through the book, that really defines the protagonist's adult life, felt so rushed and happened in a page and a half. Although I understand it wasn't the event itself, but the ramifications that were the center of the book, it was jarring how little page time was spent on the event itself.

Overall, I really fell in love with Elle and her struggles (it was especially nice to see literally fiction in which the protagonist is a wonderful mother), and I enjoyed the complicated relationships in the novel, and that not every important conversation was had.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Cancer, Death, Infertility, and Terminal illness

kombaya's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Cancer and Incest

jakirby's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Murder, and Sexual harassment

bri0987's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Death, Incest, Miscarriage, and Grief

velmad's review against another edition

4.5

I really liked this book. 

Very surprisingly , the main characters experiences with family mirror a lot of mine, right from the grandmother to the mother . 

The generational trauma resolved itself slightly with every generation but it was still very apparent that this is a very troubled family line. 

The author , still have a pass more than I think she should have to Elle's mother.  She wasn’t a good mother .  She was neglectful and selfish and narcissistic.  She allowed her men to abuse her daughters emotionally and put her daughters in harms way. It still sounded a bit like her mom was a wonderful person but maybe , true to my life , that next generation will come out even cleaner than Elle and Anna. 

I can see how she ended up having an affair.  I don’t like it but I see how it happened . 

Most definitely this was a difficult read to get through but it was very well wrote. 

The only marks I took off were because I often couldn’t keep track of the characters and jumping back and forth was done differently than I had ever read before.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

sazzzberry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Grief, Stalking, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage

abbiekwilliams's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Incest, Infertility, and Terminal illness