Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

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

133 reviews

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

This is important
I didnt like a lot of the writing but i think a lot more people need to know about this and i respect her for writing it
Its often infuriating and hard to read and so fucking sad but this narrative needs to be told. The way that women and workers are constantly and consistently ignored for company gain does make you start to lose all hope in humanity thought.
That the worst possible scenario was barely listened to (and arguably not listened to) leaves little room for hope

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Content Warnings

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

krytykesa's review against another edition

inspiring sad fast-paced

3.25

The story itself is sensational and fascinating. It tells about women who suffered from cruel and careless employers and decided to change their country.

The author laid such an opaque anti-capitalist narrative in the story that it literally screams from every page. I would say that Kate Moore's narrative style is very far from the documentary genre.

The author's style caused my relatively low review of the entire book. I think she came off as too speculative, unhinged, and emotional (in the wrong places). Often, Ms. Moore repeats herself over and over to make a point. And in other places, which would need more context, on the contrary, he does not dwell on the important.

This book would have benefited if Kate Moore had done this research and written a piece of fiction based on it. But I am glad I read it.

I wish I were more optimistic, and I believe that something has changed significantly in the society. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Grief, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death

rosemaryandrue's review

dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

Radium is a fad in early twentieth century America, and consequently makes for booming business for numerous large corporations. So when employees of the United States Radium Corporation start falling ill with a mysterious, horrific disease, the industry scrambles to cover things up.

I've heard the story of the Radium Girls before, but I did not really know the details of the struggles that the women went through, and how thoroughly they were betrayed by their employers. The author wrote in the afterword that she wanted to put the stories of the women at the center of the tale, and I thought she succeeded in this remarkably, really bringing home the horror of the situation. I also learned for the first time how these women contributed with their lives and deaths to the study and management of radioactive elements to this very day.

However, I thought the end was abrupt - after the death of Catherine Wolfe Donahue, we whizz through the subsequent court cases - I suppose because the endless appeals have been covered in depth elsewhere, but I wish we got some more detail there about how it was achieved.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Cancer, Infertility, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

irishrose7777's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Infertility, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

chezler24's review

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

I was finally able to re-read this book again after several years. I really enjoyed how care was put into showing the personalities and lives behind "The Radium Girls." Too often with historical accounts, individuals can be reduced to lifeless facts and statistics, but this author went out and sought to shed light on the humanity of the girls as they faced what occurred. The reader gets to experience the awe and joy of landing a coveted job as a dial painter, the confusion when multiple painters were failing mysteriously ill, the anger and determination of the court cases, and the triumph and drive in the court's final decisions combined with the girl's opportunities to help the scientific world that once threatened to bury them (literally and figuratively). This group of workers which could have been relegated to a simple footnote in history has a legacy that saved others regarding understanding the effects of radiation on the body, improving workplace environments, and creating legal precedents to help others get the justice they deserved. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Body horror, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Blood, Mental illness, Medical content, and Cancer

danimacuk's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Medical content, Misogyny, and Sexism

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

this was so informative. i think this is one of the most accessible non-fiction books i have ever read. this is because it was written in a narrative way. 

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Content Warnings

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

scorpi07's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

3.75

Wow. This is a gruesome, overwhelming, informative story. Though it's hard to hear how flagrantly radium has been used without safety precautions, I'm glad this tale is being told. I also like that this book showcases the lives of the women most effected and shares their human stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Death, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Blood

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical trauma

Minor: Domestic abuse

raneyak's review against another edition

informative sad tense slow-paced

3.0

I think the overall story is incredibly important and I appreciate the author’s dedication to centering the girls themselves in the narrative. However, the pacing was very slow during the second half of the book, which mostly focused on the court dealings. I also wasn’t in love with the author’s writing style. Some of the details seemed wholly unnecessary, such as when she points out how attractive some of the people were.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Cancer, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, and Death

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Pregnancy

quirkytambourine's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma