Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

El Instinto by Ashley Audrain

33 reviews

philomathean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Infidelity, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Self harm

Moderate: Suicide and Medical content

saltshaken's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Blood

rebeccareader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’m not sure what to say.

It’s beautifully written, it’s quick to read, it’s intense, exhilarating. It’s a rollercoaster force of a book that I have no hope of summarising my thoughts on.

This offers such a unique and important perspective on motherhood. Maybe it’s something not everybody wants or should experience. It also offers the very interesting perspective of a child who maybe deserved better, but also maybe would always be that child no matter what.

The ending! I have so many thoughts, but it really all comes down too that child and your opinion of her at the end. Make up your mind for yourself, I know what I believe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Child death, Suicide, and Medical content

shelbyrodger's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Infidelity, Grief, Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Child abuse, Suicide, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship

lilacvictim's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, and Abortion

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Miscarriage, Murder, Medical content, and Death of parent

kimveach's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I couldn't put this book down.  It covers the dark subject of when a mother doesn't bond with her child and how that affects the relationship with her husband.  Much of the mother's problems come from her history of how her grandmother treated her mother and how her mother treated her.

This doesn't sound like it would be a "fun" book to read, but it's well worth it.  The writing is excellent and I kept wanting to know what would happen next.

It has flashbacks to her mother's and her childhoods which can make it a little confusing if you prefer a more straightforward and linear story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Miscarriage

leekaufman's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Medical content

Moderate: Gaslighting and Stalking

Minor: Child abuse

ebonyrose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Push was my perfect psychological thriller. It was so well-paced and incredibly written, I was hooked from the very first page. I raced through this one, with my insides tense the entire time, unsure where the story was headed (though, I was more fascinated by the characters themselves and less fussed about how the story might or might not shock me at the end, like I typically look for in a thriller). This book is heavy on the 'psychological' part of 'psychological thriller' and really functioned as a fascinating character study and rumination on motherhood and the mountains of expectations that come with the role of mothering. That was what made this book stand out from other thrillers I've read and enjoyed. This was just phenomenally done. This book earned every ounce of hype it got when it came out earlier this year, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in this genre of novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Stalking

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

mommarex1221's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this in less than a day, which is something I've never done before. I could NOT put this down. Enthralling, well worth the read. I absolutely recommend it, although I would suggest that the content warning is reviewed, as there are a lot of triggering topics explored here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Grief, Miscarriage, and Self harm

Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Excrement, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Suicide

Minor: Abortion and Alcohol

caties_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

MASSIVE TW FOR CHILD/BABY VIOLENT DEATH, CHILD ABUSE, SELF HARM AND GRIEF. Can't possibly overstate how much you should not read this if you are sensitive to any of the above, they're very explicit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, Torture, Violence, and Vomit