Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

10 reviews

lynsea's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Heartbreaking and realistic read. Informative read to understand this not-so-well-known history of Hawai’i. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Medical content, and Death

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Violence

Minor: War and Colonisation

lafate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

How do you make a life when you are seven years old and told you must leave your family because you have leprosy? How would you react when you are sent even further away to an island which is nearly impossible for your family to visit? This is the story of seven year old Rachel Kalama and how she builds a life in Kalaupapa on Hawaiian island of Moloka'i. She had leprosy, now called Hansen's Disease. 

There is a lot about Hawaiian culture and history in this book. There are Hawaiian words and more. I had gone into this assuming the narrator would know how to pronounce everything, but I've read some reviews that make me wonder. I don't speak the language so I can't say for sure. The narration was very good, but the book was better. There were a couple of places where the book dragged, but the story always became engaging again. 

Because the book is about a disease there is a lot of death and heartbreak. It is a coming-of-age story as well. Rachel is a resilient and sometimes unwilling child. She has spunk which she is going to need. The descriptions of the disease's effects on people are at times a little gross, but they are not so detailed that I felt the need to stop listening or speed through sections. I recommend if you can handle it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Chronic illness

yyes's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, and Racism

dnpatterson2's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Death

alixcallender's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Chronic illness, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Terminal illness, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Body horror, Outing, Violence, Abandonment, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Murder, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Transphobia, War, and Racism

feathers4bookmarks's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I loved learning about the Island, as well as the history and complicated trajectory of the leprosy colony and it’s inhabitants. It was painfully sad at parts and had me in tears despite myself. Overall it got a little slow for me in the third quarter or so when it felt like the story had been told abs was feeling a little repetitive and drawn out. I appreciated the authors real life facts and journals he based the characters off of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Medical content

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Violence

dani_007's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Terminal illness, War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual assault

rachelkreadsbookz's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Chronic illness

Moderate: Death

3am_bookthoughts's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Blood, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Racism, Genocide, Grief, Child death, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, and Body horror

niecierpek's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

An unexpected delight. 
A beautiful, traditionally linear novel spanning almost a hundred years of history of a leper colony on Moloka’i, one of the islands in the Hawaiian archipelago. 
This book was a complete surprise.  I had it on my shelf for ages, and if I had read what it was about, I forgot.  I picked it up as a summer read, and was utterly surprised by its subject matter, and very engaging, unsentimental and tactful treatment of the theme.  
I loved the main character, Rachel.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness and Forced institutionalization