Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

143 reviews

linnea1801's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

There are badass lesbian scientists and dragons. Do I need to say more?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, Misogyny, Abandonment, Cancer, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcoholism

sadiaa's review against another edition

2.75

The premise of the book is interesting, women suddenly turning into dragons and societies denial of the existence of dragons. This book took me forever to finish, I kept picking it up and putting it down. I found myself skipping pages at a time, I was only interested in Alex and Beatrice's story. I found myself angry at the misogyny Alex faced, "no point getting an education when you'll just become a wife and mother", it was infuriating and testament to how women deal with adversity.
I loved the female rage aspect of the book,

when the dragons attack the abusive men in their lives, I wish Alex got her revenge on her teacher, he was insufferable.

It just failed to hold my interest and I struggled through this book, determined not to dnf 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Homophobia, Death, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

grubrednuf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

This book utterly destroyed me. When I saw the book dedication to Christine Blassey Ford I anticipated a hard read. The first page was intriguing and hooked me but the story was slow to 'get to the point' already, once it did I could not put it down- I had to know how it ended. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Misogyny, Infidelity, Homophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: War

arwinadrea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Cancer

Minor: Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, and Outing

Cold War, Women's Lib, Toxic Patriarchy, and Traumatic Childhood meets hopeful coming of age magical realism!

joa_price's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

This book is wonderful and heartbreaking and has made me rethink all of my family ties with a kinder heart. I loved this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Abandonment, and Grief

jacquibear's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, Sexism, and Racism

Minor: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Lesbophobia

lorenmarie7's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

Women 🔥

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, and Terminal illness

tostita's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Death of parent, Cancer, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Terminal illness, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual harassment and Physical abuse

machenn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Alcohol, Misogyny, Homophobia, Death of parent, and Cancer

mandi_lea's review against another edition

hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Misogyny, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity