Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Women by Kristin Hannah

70 reviews

gellysam's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and War

kjf524's review against another edition

horrible writing. characters fell flat and everything was told and not shown. literally no one had a personality. i did not care for any of the characters because there was little to no dialogue and character development. also describing in detail what the protagonist 
 was wearing was very juvenile writing and so unnecessary to the story. i don't care that she has a peter pan collar. and this happened several times a chapter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

calliegesmundo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and War

taylorshelby's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

emilymarleymorris's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and War

miagic_tome's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book tore me apart.

 I started the audiobook without realizing that one of my favorite narrators was reading. Julia Whelhan’s narration, wide array of voices and accents, and ability to bring out the emotions on the page are phenomenal, and this was no exception. 

I didn’t know what I was getting into by picking up this book, and going in blind meant I was knocked off my feet time and time again. The visual descriptions were equal parts vivid and horrifying. Being inside Frankie’s mind felt so real as her life was upended again and again. I enjoyed the long winding route Frankie took to get where she ended up and while I don’t know if I could read this book again, I definitely think it earned its place on the bestseller lists 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol

bseigel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lauragracel's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

eftucker11's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

The story gets dragged along kicking and screaming by Hannah, a writer who seems incredibly eager to show you something but doesn't want your gaze to linger too long. The plots weaves and winds from trauma to trauma as our main character, Frankie, struggles to cope with her experiences during and after the Vietnam War. Hannah seems terrified to slow down and take her time with a few key moments instead of bombarding the reader. This leads to the plot whizzing by in a whirlwind so rapid that it dulls their impact.

On top of that, her descriptions of the different settings from the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands of Vietnam, to the sunny coasts of southern California, are all formulaic. They offer paper-thin window dressing that is quickly tossed aside as we race from plot point to plot point.

The focus on romantic subplots also distracts the central plot and muddles its messaging. While it's understandable that a young woman, away from home for the first time and surrounded by young men, would feel attracted to some of them, the emphasis the story places on it drags attention away from the suffering of the Vietnamese people, and the American servicemen and women. The final pages of the story completely encapsulate what I'm talking about, but I won't specify why to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say, our main character's romantic troubles persist throughout the book, and wax and wane between being central to the story and off in the periphery, despite the fact that this book is meant to be a story about experiencing and recovering from the horrors of war. It reads like a cheap addition meant to tittilate the reader, but serves little purpose aside from, once again, traumatizing the main character.

Also, the depiction of the main chracter as a victim of war trauma is riddled with clichés that would have been more tolerable were they not repeated so many times. After the third or fourth time the main character recounts a terrifying war story to a horrified listener, again, the event loses its impact. 

The story shines best when Hannah writes about the sisterhood of the nurses, coming together to support each other during and after the war. Of course, a huge segment of their time gets skipped over so the main character can go back to enduring hardships. The excessive focus on the traumas the character suffers ultimately overrides their purpose, making the reader turn away out lf exhaustion instead of sympathizing.

It was a quick read which I'm unlikely to repeat, and I wouldn't recommend it to others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism