Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Die Gesetzlose by Anna North

65 reviews

hannaheiserman's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Violence, Police brutality, and Grief

seeker24's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• 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

3.25

 Approaches topics like same sex couples, infertility and sexism in the 1800s. 

Although it does have LGBTQ+ characters, the main character is a white cis woman. At some points it does give off white savior vibes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, and Pregnancy

bmaeus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

One of my favorite reads of 2021. The ensemble cast does need more attention, but everything else is exactly what you're yearning for in a Western: loneliness, hardship, friendship, gunfights, law-breaking in the name of justice.

I've seen complaints that this is from the straight ("straight") cis white girl's perspective, but you know, I appreciate it—that's the author staying in her lane. It's an alternate history that features diversity without downplaying QTPOC hardship. North also at least understands how much of a role community plays in the lives of queer people.

The worldbuilding is rock-solid and so captivating. By exacerbating the roots of the patriarchy and gender binary, it pokes holes in these institutions with impressive deftness. In that vein, I've also seen multiple complaints that this book leans into homophobia and transphobia... Are we reading the same book?

The plot was much slower and less intense than I anticipated given the breadth of information and characters. But in the end, it turns out that our protagonist's internal journey was the chief focus all along, and I can't fault it for that. Her relationship with her own body and with others'—as a healer, a woman, and a friend—is deeply satisfying to watch. 

The Kid is one of the most compelling characters I've met in recent memory. I do think The Kid's disability could have been utilized more cleanly. It left me wanting at multiple points, particularly the end.

I love cowboys and I love this book. I generally stay away from such literally feminist novels, especially those written by white women, but Outlawed looks at its own world from many different angles and simply asks (with alternatingly gentle and demanding persistence) that you do the same with yours. It's heartbreaking and hopeful all the same. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, Abortion, and Dysphoria

cassielaj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-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? Yes

4.5

I’ve never read anything quite like this book. It’s fascinating, full of adventure and heart, sorrow and hope. If you like stories about outcasts, strong women, and found family, this one’s for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Self harm, and Abortion

Minor: Incest

hmatt's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

I love the concept of this story so much, and it had so much potential. The world-building is super well done, and I love alternate histories. Unfortunately, I came away with the feeling that the author tried to fit so much world and plot in that these got in the way of both the actual storytelling and the character-building.

Storytelling
I feel like the author was trying to fit too many events into too short of a narrative. This might have been okay, but there were so many minor events that I think we should have spent less time on, and a number of climactic events that we spent barely any time on whatsoever. A lot of these major events "fade to black" as soon as the action starts, and then we are caught up on what happened in retrospect later on - I was REALLY not a fan of this technique, and I don't think it made sense for the "western" genre.

Character-building
We do get a lot of information on most of the characters but, again, it's almost too much for how short of a book it is. What we lose out on, in my opinion, is a more profound emotional connection with the main character. We don't really dwell on her losses or feel them with her, which is extra strange given the whole novel is told in first-person.

TL;DR
The idea behind the novel is fantastic, but it tries to fit too much in. The concepts it seeks to explore are really only half-fleshed-out and the characters are hard to relate to, simply because the plot moves on too fast to hold space for these introspections.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Animal death and Drug abuse

CWs non-exhaustive

denizens98's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Excrement, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

abominablesnowaro's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

I've never been a fan of Westerns, but this dystopian version was interesting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

hlemens's review against another edition

Too much talk about getting pregnant, "baby Jesus", and religion. It was difficult to get past the beginning. I was excited for the queer aspect of the book, but was told by a queer friend that it fell pretty flat.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy