Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Trust by Hernán Díaz

9 reviews

clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This book didn’t really work for me. The world of stocks and trades just doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t find it interesting at all, and so much of this story didn’t spark anything exciting for me. I like the concept of alternating narratives and enjoyed reading the different perspectives, but it didn’t feel like there were any great revelations or big changes between one to one. I can see how this would be impactful for people, but it just didn’t do it for me.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Classism

carojust's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

I love when authors play with readers, and give us room to find our own way. "Trust" is a game-like experience, serious in its content and fun in its unfolding. Hernan Diaz plants subtle details the entire way, in an intricate design that tests our own prejudices. With this level of creativity, and a historically loyal take on 1920s financial events and New York high society, I understand why this has become such a highly recognized book. 

There are some heavy themes: sexism, racism, capitalist and radical idealism, and most at the forefront, the duplicity of people (okay, men). 

Primarily, and in fear of giving too much away, this is a story about the fragile male ego. 

You'll love this if you enjoy books that challenge your perspective, intelligent commentary on capitalist societies, and American historical fiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Medical trauma, and War

noemie_0612's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Gripping from beginning to end. Much more to uncover than I expected. Loved it. 
The last part

describes the life of a patient in a hospital. Having experienced for a couple of months recently, i found it described the experience and thoughts incredibly well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, and Medical content

appled303's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Classism

lizzym126's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

kellyofcali's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

I...did not love this. It had an interesting structure, with very different styles for different sections, so I definitely liked some more than others (I enjoyed the end sections by female characters most, and the middle section by one of the male characters least) - but I found some quite slow. I also just think I'm not super inherently interested in the finance world, so that bit got kind of old for me. I do think it had some interesting themes around wealth, illness, relationships, and storytelling, and my book club was split on it (some really liked it, others were in my camp) so I wouldn't say no to it for everyone!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Minor: Alcohol

gracescanlon's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

In Trust, Díaz used unique method of storytelling I'd not encountered but much enjoyed. I loved that the first two parts of the book were written by men, both with fond feelings toward the main female character, but flawed, and limited by their upbringing and the society around them all the same, while the second parts were told by female characters about their own experiences, using their own words.

The ordering of these parts created the effect of the women setting the record straight. One woman saw herself in the other and used her own experience as a woman to read between the lines of the previous narratives to learn the real story while placating men. Meanwhile, the other woman told the actual story, as it happened in her life, using her own words. I loved that it seemed that it was the combined efforts of the women that revealed the truth - the first, in analyzing the information she was given and pursuing the real story, and the second, in recording the facts as she knew them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Violence

akswhy's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Endlessly interesting and maddeningly ambiguous. The audiobook was expertly produced. I’ll never listen to a clock chime the same way again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement and Forced institutionalization

travisppe's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Took me a while to figure out how the structure worked but once I did I was hooked. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol