sarahflanders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Classism, Death, Grief, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gore, Miscarriage, Vomit, Child death, and Child abuse
avisreadsandreads's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Blood, Classism, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse and Mental illness
Minor: War, Confinement, and Domestic abuse
alisonmac86's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Physical abuse and Vomit
aleighc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Vomit, Death, Miscarriage, Medical content, Child death, Blood, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
kodkod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Drug use, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, and War
alexa_gee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I don't normally like books about "friendship" but this was beautiful and it really touched my heart. Bridie and Julia latch onto each other from the minute they meet- they just have this beautiful bond and mutual respect for one another that neither appeared to have really experienced before which was interesting to read about.
I just have to include a quote (for my old English teachers, of course).
Spoiler
"I had this peculiar conviction that she'd want me to keep Barnabas White out of the pipe."I just wanted to mention also that this book is full of nice little historical details and fun facts that are certainly not out of place but are a nice way to learn a bit of medical history.
I had to deduct half a star just because I found it quite hard to get into, but once I was in it, I was in it.
That blurb is a bit ranty, but I hope you can bear with me on that front (I'm trying to write more reviews to improve my analysing and writing skills so they should improve over time?). I hope your heart breaks as much as mine does. This book is painful, there is no pretending it isn't, but it is beautiful and inspiring because of the pain.
Graphic: Gore, Vomit, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
kaarna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual violence, Vomit, and Domestic abuse
maddiet425's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Vomit, and War
Minor: Misogyny
carolinebrooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, Vomit, Pregnancy, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gore, Excrement, Blood, and Child abuse
absolutive's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The novel not only explores the stories of people often left untold--poor women in Dublin, children of the unwed, for example--but also queer stories in an unusual and highly effective way. No one would call this a queer novel, I think, but by the end of the novel one must say that it is the story of four queer people living in Dublin when people didn't talk openly about this. This realisation occurs slowly and it's implicit, it's something the novel is lightly building towards but which does not emerge on the ward, hidden from view, like these lives themselves, but which, like the hidden stars, pulls the narrative forward.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Excrement, Medical content, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Vomit