Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

119 reviews

aech's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Infertility, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, and Classism

thunderthighs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

This story is told in 3 parts, the first part is very information forward and reads like a college paper with little emotional draw and very repetitive information because there are so many women who were affected. The 2nd part is where the story picks up and starts to be more of a narrative of what happened. For this reason this book really is an extraordinary recounting of what happened and the neglagence that these women faced. Highly recommend this read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage

skoot's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

3.0

Great prose. Personally wish it went into more detail about legal and court proceedings but what was included was very good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Classism

gisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad

5.0

This book tears your heart apart for these poor women while leaving you amazed by their bravery, and frustrates you to no end at the selfish, greedy people that will do anything for money. It's entirely one thing to hear about the radium girls in passing as you grow up, hearing only the surface of what they suffered in their short lives. It's another to read in detail the horrifying way these women's lives ended, and the way so many people knew and ignored the dangers they knew radium possesses. It's yet another terrifying example of what money and power can do to cause innocent people their lives, while others prosper and turn a blind eye. These women will be forever loved and adored for all they have done for others, as well as celebrated for their amazing fight for justice. Rest easy, girls.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness and Miscarriage

badger_ti_robespierre's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Should be required reading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

lovetlr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Really enjoyed the human element of the radium girls

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

avibrantmind's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

The lessons and story are worth a 5, and will haunt me for a long time. But the writing is what made me less likely to recommend this book. I understand the author wants us to connect with the real people this book is centred around, but it was filled with commentary on looks and strange details that seemed to be a forced and strained attempt at this. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness and Terminal illness

ms_sarah621's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely amazing book. Such a powerful and interesting story. I highly recommend this book and have nothing bad to say about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

reg_litbytes's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.5

 

 TLDR: An emotional take on true historical events focusing on the humanity of the victims while still being informative. Leans a bit into the fictional. Went on a little too long and felt repetitive. I zoned out a few times.

TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic descriptions of disease
 
 THE GOOD: I truly appreciate what the author is doing in this book - focusing on giving life to the women who suffered. The stories were laid out in a way that I felt how the suffering of each were all interconnected. I could feel the hopefulness, the grief, the helplessness, and the triumph of each victim that were given the spotlight. Lives and futures were ruined and I found myself getting mad and frustrated along with the victims. I wish I could look at pictures of each of them as they were being described - before and after the exposure. The goal of the author was to humanize the victims in contrast to how the other books covering the same topic has done - more scientific. So do take note that if you intend on reading this, it can often lean into the fictional. It does this by filling in some details that the author is unlikely to have known (ex. what the victims have been thinking and feeling apart from what they themselves have written). 

THE BAD:
It went on too long that I found myself, at times, zoning out. The epilogue was proof enough that this didn't have to be as long as it is. Or maybe… it was meant more to be read on print than on audiobook? It got repetitive but understandably so because the victims all went through, more or less, the same horrors. Unfortunately, halfway through, I just couldn't wait to find out how they were able to resolve the issues and the impact on society (which the epilogue was able to cover).
 
 THE NARRATION:
The narration was mostly fine but not something I would remember in the long term. I didn't feel comfortable speeding it up to more than 1.5x; but then again I don't usually speed up audiobooks.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, and Grief

smcaput2's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage

Minor: Infertility and Grief