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A review by kemetaur
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
dark
informative
inspiring
sad
5.0
This book is absolutely horrifying and captivating.
I couldn't stop talking about this book after I read it.
The book was so well researched, there was so much information and context provided about the general social environment as radium was new and exciting, how people were thinking about it, trying to find new ways to use it, how different social classes related to it and had access to it, how much information (or not) was shared between scientists, doctors, business owners, and workers during those years. The added context of the times really put everything into perspective and brought the story to life for me.
Reading about the initial carefree excitement at the beginning was sad and built tension, knowing that things would eventually go so badly. They couldn't have known just how badly. The writing was incredibly vivid. The author really makes you feel like you're right there, watching horrifying events as they unfold, celebrating victories, caring about the people involved as real individuals, not just dry facts and a list of names on a page.
The one thing that really bothered me was the audiobook narrator audibly swallowing after each paragraph throughout the book. I feel like that could have easily been edited out or something.
I couldn't stop talking about this book after I read it.
The book was so well researched, there was so much information and context provided about the general social environment as radium was new and exciting, how people were thinking about it, trying to find new ways to use it, how different social classes related to it and had access to it, how much information (or not) was shared between scientists, doctors, business owners, and workers during those years. The added context of the times really put everything into perspective and brought the story to life for me.
Reading about the initial carefree excitement at the beginning was sad and built tension, knowing that things would eventually go so badly. They couldn't have known just how badly. The writing was incredibly vivid. The author really makes you feel like you're right there, watching horrifying events as they unfold, celebrating victories, caring about the people involved as real individuals, not just dry facts and a list of names on a page.
The one thing that really bothered me was the audiobook narrator audibly swallowing after each paragraph throughout the book. I feel like that could have easily been edited out or something.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Cancer