Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

173 reviews

alyxinthestars's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Medical content

bookwyrmknits's review against another edition

This book has a lot of important and interesting information in it, and is a part of our history that isn't generally taught in schools. (Or at least, wasn't when and where I went to school.) However, it's pretty repetitive and rather graphic with descriptions of the radiation damage, and I'm not interested in continuing.

I also have to be honest and say that part of the reason for the DNF is the narration. For the most part I didn't have any issues with the narration. However, as the tension ramped up in the second third of the book, the narrator started to lengthen some of the vowels and deepen her voice at the end of sentences. It feels like this was done for dramatic impact but all it did was annoy me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death

beeping_librarian's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

3.0

Clearly a lot of research. Grew more interesting as the book transitioned away from introducing a huge number of "characters" and into describing the medical and legal battles. 

Didn't like the tendency to make up situations and real people's thoughts for the sake of painting a picture. Also had a weird focus on describing how attractive the women were -- and continuously calling them girls no matter how old they were. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Medical content, and Medical trauma

queenkath32's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

This almost felt like reading a horror novel, it was absolutely harrowing. I thought this was very propulsive and I loved that this was mostly told from the direct perspectives of the women and families involved. Sometimes the writing felt a bit cheesy and repetitive, but on the whole I couldn’t put this book down. The descriptions of each woman’s slow and painful deaths were sometimes a bit much but did capture just how bonkers it is that these people were literally dissolving and somehow these corporations were still able to wriggle out of responsibility. Absolutely maddening, describing how profit and capitalism will always take precedence over the wellbeing of workers, clearly showing how labor rights are disability rights and vice versa. If you want to be equally upset and informed, this is the book for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Sexism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

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

oh_no's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

absolutely awful content, wonderful book! honestly, if this wasn't non-fiction I'd classify it as a horror! I went through so many emotions while reading : shock, sadness, indignation, anger and sorrow for all those poor girls. my only complaint is that the story is at times hard to follow, sometimes the character have extremely similar, if not identical names. this can't be helped though, as this follows the story of real people. 

would recommend to those who have the stomach for it, regardless of whether they usually read non-fiction (I personally, do not!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion and War

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

bmpicc's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

Do not read if you have dental anxiety! I remember people talking about radium and the shining women. I don't remember anyone discussing their teeth, jaws, shattering bones, and unnecessarily early deaths. This was an incredible story.

Like Moore's book 'The Woman They Could Not Silence', I appreciate learning at the end the laws added to the books, the why behind her decision to write the book, etc. I'll be following this up with the graphic novel.

"You fight and you fall and you get up and fight some more. But there will always come a day when you cannot fight another minute more.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, and Miscarriage