Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Bye, Baby by Carola Lovering

4 reviews

masch212's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Incest, Fatphobia, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

smileyjayna's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

I love ghost* stories
* “ghosts” generally, not like 👻

I do not love the narrative voice (if that’s the right term for it, how it’s always “I give a strained smile” or “I jolt up in bed”) but I haven’t read anything else by Lovering so I’m guessing it was it was a choice for a thriller.

I DO like the way choices are dissected and discussed, how they do or do not belong to their characters, if that makes sense.

I like the pacing of the book overall, but I have not decided my opinion on the moments in which two characters experience the same event.

I think it was a sloppy choice to use weight as shorthand for virtue/virtue (wade, ava (to a lesser extent)).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Dementia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Classism, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Minor: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Eating disorder, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Lesbophobia

iamnita's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I was so excited to get an ARC of a Carola Lovering book. I loved Can't Look Away. I buddy-read this with someone who also enjoyed that book. We schemed all the way through the first half expecting some giant twist that would make sense of the events in the book and significance of characters who played very minor roles. Given we both read thrillers regularly we expected a big reveal. And that's not what happened. There was no giant twist. I absolutely respect the messaging the book set out to share but the thriller aspect was not well enough developed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Toxic friendship, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Grief, Stalking, Chronic illness, and Sexual assault

Minor: Alcohol, Murder, and Death of parent

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Murder, Pregnancy, Classism, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Stalking

Minor: Infidelity, Abortion, Drug use, and Eating disorder