Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The End Of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird

3 reviews

brynalexa's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.75

Overall this novel was a breeze to get through; just enough diversity of prose and mystery to keep you turning the pages. I wished the idea that “power is bad no matter who has it” was more pervasive. It seemed like almost an afterthought or accidentally included. There was quite a bit of “cops are good and necessary” which was off-putting. You would hope the new world described wouldn’t include the violence of police. It felt a bit like the author threw in the notes from sensitivity readers all in the last 100 pages as an afterthought as well. Most of the characters had the same personality, even though it seems to be trying to be a feminist story. It came together in the end well. I would recommend it as an easy read if you aren’t hoping to take it too seriously. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Child death, Violence, Abandonment, Death of parent, Infertility, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Mass/school shootings, Deportation, Gun violence, Alcohol, Genocide, and Fatphobia

cady_sass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is so ridiculously good, I don’t have words. This is a dystopian reality that is 100% believable and so, so interesting to think about and reflect on. Weaved through the compelling stories of multiple women across, predominately, Europe, it expertly asks the question, how different would the world be without men? How do we allocate labor and essential jobs, food, sperm (literally)? How to the small amount of remaining men function, how do they react? Does this change the way women view and accept their sexuality? My god I could talk for an hour about how fascinating this is. Just do yourself a favor and read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Suicide, Cursing, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Child death, Alcohol, Infertility, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Misogyny, Murder, and Self harm

luelle_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I considered giving 4.5 but no, it deserves the 5. This book became relatable in a way the author could never have fully anticipated immediately on its release. I just wish there had been more focus on the LGBTQ community than there was - particularly trans women. But they did feature, thank goodness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Grief

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Murder