Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

28 reviews

elizapease's review

challenging informative inspiring sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

The Great Believers challenged me in a way no book has before. My perceptions of the AIDS crisis completely shifted, my perception of loss, trauma, guilt, hardship and so much more were all deeply challenged. This is a tough read - but it’s also incredibly beautiful and colorful and funny. It makes you feel like you’re falling in love - with a city, a new lover, a friend, the book itself. 

While this book is all too amazing, I subtracted half a star because i found the sections of Fiona searching for her daughter in paris to feel lackluster in comparison to its parallel storyline in the 80’s. I often wanted to rush through that half of the book to return to Yale’s perspective. I still found it compelling, beautiful, and admittedly a necessary relief to the horrors of the past. It was an important perspective in many ways, illustrating the far reaching impacts of the AIDS crisis on its survivors and their loved ones. 

The Great Believers has the power to effect great change- not just from the influences of reading an amazing book, but from the light it shined on this terrible miscarriage of justice, the very real nightmare of the AIDS crisis brought to life in screaming color.  Yes this is a book about tragedy and mortality - but where it succeeds most is in painting a beautiful portrait of life, friendship, hope, and the things that make our time on earth worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kaela_arcuri's review

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Addiction, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug use, Grief, Hate crime, Abandonment, and Medical content

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I did.  The dual timelines broke up the story too much for me.  I preferred the story set in 1980s Chicago to the one in the present day.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Classism, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Ableism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Grief, Outing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Dementia, Drug use, Excrement, Medical content, and Abandonment

mmaack24's review

emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

i think this may be the most beautiful and compelling work i have ever read. i admit that i was a bit skeptical at first, as it is written by a straight cis woman and about queer struggle, and also because it seemed to be so solely about queer struggle. i worried that it would be 400 pages of just trauma and sadness, but the emotions are so complex and the characters are some of my favorite depictions of queer men and complicated relationships i have ever experienced. i am so incredibly in awe, and i have a feeling this will put me in a reading slump because at the moment i can’t picture anything else being good or even worth reading because of how gorgeous this book was.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racism

lorenag5's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Infidelity, Medical content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Self harm, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, and Grief

alyroharsha's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional informative sad slow-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

5.0

i thought this was just phenomenal. both storylines interested me and i felt so so much for the characters. this broke my heart but also put it together. this was devastating but beautiful.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Grief, Violence, Vomit, Cursing, Hate crime, Death, Medical content, Police brutality, Sexual content, Addiction, and Alcoholism

melissahawco's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Grief, Death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Hate crime

cady_sass's review

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am absolutely floored that there aren’t more people (at least in my universe) talking about this book. I am in AWE. What a stunningly heartbreaking story. I loved every part of this, even the parts that brought tears to my eyes. It will weigh on your heart, on your soul, and live in your mind. When I wasn’t reading all i wanted to do was pick it back up. Even though it’s an inherently sad story, and you know that no matter what it’s going to be sad at the end, you still kind of hope for the happy ending you know you won’t get. There are what feels like a million characters and somehow I cared about all of them, even the ones I hated. Everyone in world should read this and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Death, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Bullying, Alcoholism, Classism, Homophobia, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

lorit1227's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, and Terminal illness