Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

108 reviews

alisonmac86's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Emotional abuse

Minor: Physical abuse and Vomit

mad_is_rad's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Well now my heart’s broken. An incredible story! It was a surprisingly cozy read, too, until it wasn’t.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Religious bigotry, War, and Slavery

thealienamongus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Miscarriage, Slavery, Death, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, War, Classism, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Alcohol

have_a_doris_day's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Medical content, Child death, Death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

Moderate: War

phoebeeandjam's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I LOVED THIS BOOK!! I think that this may be my favourite book of all time (to be fair, I haven’t read that many books). 

Though it isn’t the central focus, it is queer! I felt like the characters were written beautifully. 

It took me a minute to get used to the writing style, and there were a lot of nouns I hadn’t heard before because I was not alive in 1918 and I am not Irish lol but I was able to use context clues to get the idea. Despite this, I loved every second of The Pull of the Stars, and I read it every chance I got. I was sad when it ended, and I will likely reread it in the near future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Child death

Minor: War and Forced institutionalization

wreathedinviolets's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I love that Emma Donoghue books always feel fully immersed in a setting and time. Honestly reading about a novel set during a different pandemic is oddly comforting. I wish the events were spread across more than just a few days but boy are those days completely packed with plot! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pregnancy, Child death, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse and Forced institutionalization

aleighc's review against another edition

emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Death, Miscarriage, Medical content, Child death, Blood, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

ladysanctuary's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Death, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, Classism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Minor: War

archaicrobin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

This is the second book by Emma Donoghue I’ve read and the first that I actually really enjoyed. Set during the flu pandemic of 1918, you follow Nurse Power as she takes control of the pregnant flu ward and does her best to keep her patients alive. To assist her is young Bride Sweeney and the first female doctor to set foot on the ward, Dr. Lynn. 

Historical fiction is always interesting to read and The Pull of The Stars grabbed me right away. The book describes the current state of Ireland and immerses you in Nurse Power’s life. There is a lot of medical content and it’s graphic at points, so if births or medical content makes you uncomfortable this one might be rough. 

If you’re interested in historical fiction or want to read a strong feminist tale of how three women work together to save lives then read this one! I would highly recommend the audiobook as well. It was so hard to even put it down, I listened to it for 3 hours straight one day!

The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5, is the ending for this novel. I felt like it escalated very quickly and it was abrupt for me as a reader, since the novel seems to hold a study pace until that point. Despite the ending I still greatly enjoyed this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, and Death

kaarna's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Blood

Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual violence, Vomit, and Domestic abuse