Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Zaginione z Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman

17 reviews

funsizesteffi1104's review against another edition

I found this book and the descriptions of Willowbrook extremely upsetting. I think it affected me so much because this happened to real people.  I was upset I couldn’t go on because I loved the premise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Excrement, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Body shaming, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, and Physical abuse

kaityreads's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Confinement, Excrement, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

lex_lovekraft's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of those books everyone ought to read. But it's dark and deals with a lot of heavy topics, so read with care. It is a history that we must never forget.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Ableism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

Minor: Rape

hannahbannah's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Stalking, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Body horror, Death, and Drug abuse

sisu40's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

The real horror of this book is not the actual mystery in the book, but rather the fact that these places existed. The treatment of people who lived there was atrocious and inhumane. I used to work in a group home with individuals who were previously in one of these homes. The stories their parents told me, and the scars they had, are something I'll never forget.

If you are looking solely for a thriller, this isn't for you. But if you are looking for a book that showcases human atrocity and our capacity for treating other humans as less than ourselves... then you should read this. As a thriller, this was probably only an underwhelming 2 stars for me. But when I stop thinking about it as a thriller and just evaluate it as a book, it's a much better read.

Please check trigger warnings on this one if you're sensitive to certain topics. 

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Rape, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Murder, Violence, Misogyny, Child abuse, Ableism, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.25

Wow. This book is so good! The content in this book is not for the faint of heart.  This is a historical fiction novel that depicts the infamous Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. 

Sage Winters was led to believe that her identical twin sister died six years ago. She just found out that was not only false, but that her sister was institutionalized all those years ago at Willowbrook State School and has now gone missing. Sage heads to Willowbrook to hopefully aid in the search, but when she gets there she is mistaken for her sister and forced into the institution where she must now survive the atrocities thrown at her. How will she manage this when everyone around her believes her to be delusional?

There is a lot of really heavy, gruesome, gory content in this book. The fact that a lot of this book is based in truth sent me down the rabbit hole researching Willowbrook and I have to say that this book was a decently good representation of what happened there. Obviously, Sage and many of the other characters are fictional, but the things they endured were not. Some timelines were skewed to fit the author’s story. 

I was definitely drawn into the story! I was able to predict where things were going toward the end and I did find the story to be pretty repetitive in certain instances, but overall this was a really interesting read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for offering this digital copy for review!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent and Drug use

Minor: Cursing