Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of Death Foretold by Sam Knight

13 reviews

definestrange's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

seventhswan's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.5

3.5 stars, but a very strong 3.5 - this was a fascinating read! I don't truly know if I believe in premonitions or not, despite believing I and people I know have experienced them, and it seems like neither Knight nor the researchers in this book know if they do either. A conclusion either way is never drawn, and we are left to make up our own minds.

Regardless, though, I thought this was an accessibly-written book, free of outright woo but also of preachy scepticism. The opening section about Aberfan was particularly gripping. I did find that the following sections meandered a bit - everywhere they went was interesting enough, but I struggled to find the thread linking them together - and I would have liked to hear more about the later work and wrapping-up of the Premonitions Bureau. Towards the end things got a little repetitive (here is a bad thing that happened, here is someone who predicted it) but it was refreshing to read such a well-researched, clearly-written book about something a little fringe!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness and Medical content

Minor: Gun violence, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jess2obsess's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Mental illness

flamingkaty's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

addyboo's review against another edition

challenging sad slow-paced

3.25

Well written to start but seemed to lose its way after first third. Didn't expect it to be non fiction which is my bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

charnewb's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

bethsreading's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

While I did enjoy this book, I felt all the way through that I wanted more. The book is definitely more of a biography about John Barker than about premonitions themselves. Also the book itself felt disjointed and seemed to veer on tangents that while interesting, took away focus from the main topic. I found it all fascinating (though some biography parts went on a little long for my tastes) and I enjoyed the philosophy and psychology elements that questioned the boundaries of thought and time. However, I was sadly left wanting. I wanted more about the premonitions themselves, more examples of them, more about their historical and social significance. Worth a read, but I would go in with different expectations than the blurb offers you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Fire/Fire injury

lela's review against another edition

informative mysterious medium-paced

3.5

This book has lots of interesting content but lacks clear structure/direction. The focus is also not what I'd expect from the title/blurb as it is more of a story of the man who founded the bureau rather than about the bureau itself. It was still very readable and interesting, I'm glad I picked it up

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Medical content

lfmp's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Minor: Transphobia

Discusses aversion “therapy”

linguaphile412's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail