em_1920's review

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0


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sciencekoala's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This book was fantastic! It was a non-fiction read that I just couldn’t put down whenever I got the opportunity to read for myself. I learned so much about the history of plastic surgery as well as war-time medicine. WWI was a shock to the system for battlefield medics and the surgeons who had to clean up the mess- the weaponry used produced bodily damage unlike any we had ever seen while the scientific advances produced survival rates unlike what we had ever seen. The author handles the topic of these soldiers’ physical (and psychological) injuries with a perfect balance of reverence and realism, and she paints a picture of Gillies as a surgeon who was willing to do exactly the same when many of his colleagues couldn’t look past the twisted faces and figures before them to see the men and their minds left underneath. 

If you have any interest in surgery, history, WWI, medicine, or biography- I strongly recommend you read this book. 

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readwithmarie23's review

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dark emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

5.0


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pardonmylord's review

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informative medium-paced

4.5

While I love the book, I do think there was something lost in audiobook vs physical book, but I liked it so much I’d be interested in seeing the physical book and flipping through it!

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happentobeshort's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

This one took me a while to get through. The subject matter was very real and very upsetting but it was also very fascinating to learn all about. I knew that WW1 heralded a lot of innovations in medicine and reconstructive surgery, but I wasn't really aware of some of the finer details. It was really quite an amazing read despite the gory and depressing details, which I think were absolutely necessary anyway. 

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lilyreads01's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5


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hattiereadssomanybooks_x's review against another edition

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dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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isaarusilor's review

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informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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hullosweetpea's review against another edition

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informative fast-paced

4.5


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cyberhavok's review against another edition

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adventurous informative medium-paced

4.75


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