Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Book of the Unnamed Midwife

I was hesitant to read this book because I don't usually like really sad books. Even though this book is very sad, there is hope in it. I can't really explain it. If you like dystopian books, wait until you need a good cry and then read this book. Also, make sure you read the trigger warnings... There are a lot.

Content Warnings

mollyrook's review against another edition

Go to review page

This one is a DNF, largely because I don’t think there was any reason for it to be as rapey as it was. No content warnings, and nothing on the back cover blurb to suggest that this was an apocalypse story about the surviving women being raped constantly by any men who happened to find them.

I dunno, maybe it goes somewhere spectacular by the end? After the dozen or so sexual assaults in the first hundred pages, I wasn’t willing to stick around to find out.

Content Warnings

waitforhightide's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective

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

3.5

This book felt like a cross between Stephen King's The Stand and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. However, considering those are two of my favorite books, I thought I would like this one more than I did.

Pros:
- references to queerness and transness
- consideration of transness in a gender-centered apocalypse
- polyamory normalization
- the universe itself is quite compelling

Cons:
- the protagonist felt predictable to me throughout the book
- the ending felt rushed somehow?
- at times the references to transness seemed so surface-level they were almost just ornamental; like the author maybe knew some people were wondering how queerness would work in this world and tossed in some crumbs to make us nod and not look too deeply?

That said, I'm interested ENOUGH to take the other two of the trilogy out from the library whenever they get to me and see if anything is expanded on; if so, I will consider coming back and revising the review with the whole series in mind

Content Warnings

kailajay's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is not an easy read. There are significant spoilers in this review due to the nature of the book and a serious need for content warnings.

I first read this book a couple of years ago and when browsing my Kindle notebook noticed a highlighted quote from the 3rd book in the Road to Nowhere series and decided to reread the series.

The premise is a virus that sweeps (at least) America that kills 98% of men and 99%+ of women, particularly during childbirth. The US becomes a degenerative hellscape, where the straight men of the world battle for the few women left alive, and generally do horrible things to them.

The main character is assaulted within a handful of pages. There are in depth descriptions of FGM, sexual assault, miscarriage, stillbirth, child death, death during childbirth, child sexual abuse, and general violence against women.

But it's still a deeply interesting book that draws you in. Written in a mix of direct storytelling and frantic journal entries, the 'Unnamed Midwife' is a complex and intriguing character who will do (nearly) anything to survive. We're introduced to concepts expanded on in the next books, the idea of these journals being copied over and over again to preserve both the story and the medical information, the 'wooden belly' that Ina wears, the settlement of Nowhere.

The main character, the 'Unnamed Midwife'- she gives a different name to everyone she meets, and is an experienced midwife- goes through a long and complex journey to find her way to Nowhere, an ex military base. I don't know much about American geography but the people she meets, and the stories that she tells through them, are all incredibly gripping and while they don't always move the story onwards, they move the character onwards and build the new world up (or tear it down just that little bit more).

It's really hard to recommend this book because of how deeply dark the content is. I enjoyed this book in a very complex, rough way, but whether you want to read this needs to be a personal choice, based on whether you can process the content in a safe way. I'd advise taking breaks when you need to, even in a reasonably short book.

Content Warnings

sophiesbookshelf2's review against another edition

Go to review page

Content Warnings

More...