Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

16 reviews

isleofwoman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, War, Death, Murder, and Cancer

Moderate: Abortion, Rape, and Miscarriage

lightsleeper_heavydreamer's review against another edition

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

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

4.5

This was a wonderful family saga and I cried and learned a lot! The things I knew about Vietnamese history I mostly had from museums, this book brought history to life in all its tragedy, cruelty, all its sorrow and grief, all its persistence and kindness and love. At times this story is almost unbeatably sad and I felt so much for the family and everything they had to go through but it also managed to be hopeful throughout. The women here are so strong for their persistence and their unwillingness to give in or to lose their kindness. 
Highly recommended the audio book, there's so many Vietnamese proverbs in this and   hearing them spoken by a Vietnamese speaker and not just reading them wrongly in my head.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Genocide, Suicide, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Miscarriage, Torture, and War

sterreg's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This story grabbed me from beginning to end, even though the heaviness of the topic made me take breaks in-between. It tells stories of the goodness between people when we arrive in our darkest hour. About the power of perseverance for our families. It makes us long for the connections around us and value what we have. But it also creates awareness about topics that used to feel so far away. I've felt for these characters, and have grown to remember the smallest details the more I read about them. They felt real and their struggle felt incredibly harsh and unfair.

The change of faith is possible. As long as we follow the road of goodness, strength will find its way. A gorgeous story of family, broken hearts and loss, and how the family bounced back through hardship of a broken country.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Miscarriage, and Sexual assault

sas_lk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I don't have much to say, other than I just really liked this book. The author kept me hooked from start to finish, even though it was a historical fiction - which are usually quite dense, which means that i regularly need breaks. However, it was so easy to keep reading, and I felt truly "transported" - the same way Huong was transported to Laura's world. 
Painful, heartbreaking, but so inspiring and hopeful in the end. A novel about the horrors, and the truest beauties of life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion

Minor: Cancer, Alcoholism, Rape, Suicide, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment

moniipeters's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Abortion, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Grief, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Abandonment, Child death, Gore, Kidnapping, and War

annorabrady's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I loved the look into the history of Vietnam through the generations. The characters and their stories were fully fleshed such that it reads more like a memoir than a historical fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Child death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Alcoholism, Blood, Hate crime, Classism, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Confinement, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Torture

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Abortion, Domestic abuse, and Infertility

jdjemm's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, War, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, and Suicide

solaria's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Colonisation, Death, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Suicide, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Gun violence

tumbleweedreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: War, Violence, Rape, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion, Suicide, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Alcoholism, and Child death

Minor: Chronic illness and Excrement

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Lyrical and enchanting, The Mountains Sing tells the history of a whole country through the tale of two generations of women. A must read! Quê' Mai details a large part of the atrocities committed during the Vietnam war with painstaking care, covering everything from PTSD to the devastating impact of chemical warfare. At the same time, this story is filled with love, hope and compassion. The language is just beautiful and you can really tell that the author also writes poetry. The only issue I had with the book was that the pacing was a little off at times. The resolution came too quick, which undermined the build up that the two different time lines were supposed to set up. I think the book could have benefited from a few extra chapters, especially in Diêu Lan's perspective. My rating would be 4.5 stars if possible but will round up because I still really enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, War, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, and Rape

Minor: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail