Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

48 reviews

aestass's review

dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

This is a comprehensive, historical tale that follows the radium girls of New Jersey and Ohio with detail. However, due to the length of the narrative and difficulty differentiating between the different painters, as well as the various court cases, it's hard to really connect with the victims.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Cancer, Medical content, and Terminal illness

will_meringue's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring

5.0

For all the dial-painters
And those who loved them

Before reading, I knew only the most basic things about the dial-painters: they glowed; they died. This book did what narrative non-fiction does best, opening up a topic I'd not really considered and making it speak across the past, present and future. It's a harrowing read - the descriptions of their deaths are brutally visceral, and I cried multiple times - but always clear-eyed, informative, emotional and empathetic. The cruelty shown by URSC, Radium Dial and other forces in the industry would be unthinkable if it wasn't all too common under capitalism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Body horror, Miscarriage, Blood, Cancer, Murder, and Medical trauma

nrogers_1030's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

5.0

It's appalling what happened to these poor women. I felt the book could have been shorter & the narration a bit less monotone, but I still enjoyed the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Ableism, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion and Domestic abuse

Some of the pictures in the book are a bit gruesome.

gondorgirl's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Ableism, Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Death

miistical's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.75

For too long the women had waited for the truth. The scales, at last, were tipping against the company. The girls had been given a death sentence; yet they had also been given the tools to fight their cause—to fight for justice.

The diagnosis, Katherine Schaub now said, "gave me hope."

"The Radium Girls" is one of the most captivating novels (nonfiction and fiction) that I have ever read. While the first third - Knowledge - dragged on a bit, I devoured the next 300 pages in a 6 hour single sitting. Vindication and righteousness boiled in my blood; it was like a predator was searching for prey, hoping that the next page would spell out a slip for me to latch onto with my teeth.

I am not normally a fan of nonfiction, but Kate Moore's sympathetic and detailed language was perfect for envisioning each tragedy and justice the Radium Girls went through. On occasion, it did seem a bit too detailed—there are many descriptions of the face, body type, and personality of every person mentioned. However, it dawned on me that these were very much real people, not just names with a D next to them. That clear visual of these women and those who helped them reminded me that these were people who deserved to be seen, not just as letters on a page.

By the end, it did truly feel as if I were there with these poor women. I watched the court proceedings, sat in Catherine Donahue's living room, roamed Ottawa and Orange and New York. I despaired and cheered and, quite literally!, cried with them. This book is a monument to injustice in all its forms, and I highly encourage everyone to read it so that they may truly know hopelessness—and to hope anyway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Chronic illness, Blood, Terminal illness, Cancer, Medical content, Grief, and Infertility

earth_and_silver's review

dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Chronic illness

Moderate: Cancer, Miscarriage, Body horror, and Blood

Minor: Physical abuse

sometimes_samantha_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

4.5

The writing felt a little bit slow at times, but the story overall was shocking, intriguing, and sad. I'm glad something was learned from these ladies, but so much more should've been done for them sooner. A very interesting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Medical trauma, Body horror, Terminal illness, Gore, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Blood, Medical content, Death, and Cancer

savreads28's review

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

2.0

The book was very informative on the subject of the Radium Girls. There was almost too much detail and getting through the book is definitely not for the weak. I listened to a lot of it on audiobook. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Terminal illness, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Cancer, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

infinite_harness9030's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Chronic illness, Cancer, Death of parent, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness

Minor: Sexism, Blood, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Murder

alexismong720's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Murder