Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Lakewood by Megan Giddings

46 reviews

hngisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

bitterseason's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

dalmavatai's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.5

I really enjoyed the writing and character development in this book, I loved Lena & just wanted everything to work out for her. Towards the end it got pretty confusing which I didn't love but I think that was the purpose of the book, it just didn't perfectly align with my reading tastes. A solid medical horror though with very important & well executed commentary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror and Cancer

helhas3letters's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Very readable. The plot hooked me completely and despite a few awkward turns of phrase, I raced through this one.
My main gripe, however, is that I felt the ending was rushed and left too open-ended. I wanted more concrete answers and explanations as to why half the events in the book occurred. I understand that a lot of modern fiction leaves things up to interpretation for the reader, but in this case it felt less 'up to interpretation' and more 'couldn't be bothered thinking of specific reasons why specific things happened'.
The ending was also unfortunately semi-spoiled for me by a way too on-the-nose and frankly reductive pull quote on the cover of the book. It was from Essence and read:

"Reminiscent of Jordan Peele's terrifying film Get Out."

If you've read the book, you'll know what I mean when I say that reading that quote essentially told me the entire ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug use, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Alcohol

mandi_lea's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Gore

savvylit's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Lakewood is a terrifying novel. Giddings inserts readers directly into Lena's mind so that we know exactly as much as she does about her new employer. Which is very little. This allows Giddings to create a creeping sense of terror as more and more goes wrong during the Lakewood experiments. There were a few top-notch body horror moments in this novel that really scared the crap out of me.

The truly terrifying thing about this book, though, isn't the body horror or the corporate gaslighting. It's the fact that, though the contents of this book are fictional, they are based on a legacy of horrific white supremacist reality. Consistently throughout U.S. history, people of color have been unwittingly used as guinea pigs for medical experimentation. Giddings interprets historical precedent into a modern, entirely fathomable racist hellscape.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Vomit

srhi96's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Excrement, and Vomit

raebies_03's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I don't have a lot of thoughts about this book. Obviously the content is horrific and is a reflection of how society treats bipoc people to this day.

The writing intrigued me throughout the book. Grabbing my interest and dropping it here and there. Overall I'm just not sure how I feel about it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Cancer and Death of parent

lamorna's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Drug use, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

peachmoni's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Vomit, and Gaslighting