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Reviews tagging 'Death'
The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
8 reviews
jhbandcats's review against another edition
4.25
That said, Wow. What a book. How is it that Elizabeth Packard is not a household name? She was extraordinary. Committed to an insane asylum because her husband found her outspokenness troublesome, she worked for three years to be freed, then worked the rest of her life to achieve equality for women, safety for mental patients, and the right of a mother to have custody of her children.
The author relies on diaries, letters, newspapers, and trial transcripts. Everything she writes has been thoroughly researched. Her work here is exceptional.
Having found Radium Girls equally important, I hope that Kate Moore continues to write. Her works are essential to understanding the history of the ordinary American in the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ohlala_kaylala's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
znvisser's review against another edition
3.5
In one of the many tidbits after the actual story the author elaborates on how she intentionally added "reveals for dramatic purposes". I wish she didn't, because those were my biggest annoyance about this book; the reveal method made me distrusting of her as a storyteller, ruining my reading experience at times. I don't mind myself a surprise or twist, but I do mind reading for tens of pages and made believe explicitly one way, only to be consequently patronized with a "the joke's on you because meanwhile everything else was different!" That's just a waste of words and there certainly are more elegant ways to achieve mystery or suspense. In fact in this case, I think the plot was entertaining enough in itself and didn't require the manipulation applied at all.
Elizabeth was a very interesting character, both intellectually and socially, but I couldn't understand how those two things interacted. How did such a brilliant woman keep making the mistake of trusting the same villains again and again? Afterwards I'm still curious if that paradox was a narrative choice as well, or her actual character. Because I do believe Moore did her research elaborately, I may have to believe the latter. All in all, in between the manipulating I did enjoy reading this story and getting an insight in this piece of history I had no prior knowledge of. Radium Girls has also been on my radar, and I've seen reviewers with similar objections to this book appreciating that one nevertheless (but also some same complaints), so we'll see if I might still pick that up in the future.
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, and Excrement
Minor: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
matcha_cat's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, and Abandonment
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Classism
Minor: Death, Excrement, and Gaslighting
laurenkimoto's review against another edition
4.0
And we hate men
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Classism
nerdglasses08's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
bethbarron's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
jamieleepilk's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of those books that will 100% stay with me for a very long time. I finished it last night and was left dumbstruck at how phenomenal it was. Kate has written an epically researched book that grips you and is so compelling that you can't put it down regardless of the horrors you are reading about. The writing is so vivid, beautiful and heartbreaking at times it often reads as historical fiction and my god do you wish it was fiction all the stuff this incredible woman went through.
This book will make you rage, scream and want to through the book at the wall (sorry) in anger at what Elizabeth (and countless woman) went through merely for wanting more independence.
Even with the horrors that happen within these pages what shines through is Elizabeth's hope and strength no matter what was thrown her way, no matter how hopeless things looked she took it and formed her new plans. Whenever she was on a mission you can feel yourself willing through the years to do it, to succeed and cheering her all the way. A woman who went through so much hardships but can out the other side determined to make a difference so the married women of America wouldn't again have to suffer similar fates. Even with this happening 160years ago women today are still called "crazy" to cut them down to size and belittle them, mental health is still not taken seriously in many cases and women's illness' are brushed under the rug.
The quotes in the book taken from real life documents are incredible, showing Elizabeth's immense skill as writer, she was a force to be reckoned with.
As I say this book will stay with me for a long while after finishing it, the postscript was a gut punch and a striking example of why we still need to fight. I am in awe of Kate's work here, her sheer amount of research in incredible and her writing is so elegant. One of the best books I've read this year and I can't wait to recommend it to every single person I know. Breathtaking, I wish I could give more than 5 stars.
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Abandonment