Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Life of the Mind

Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

The Life of the Mind, by Christine Smallwood

14 reviews

solasuaine's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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smute's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

At first I was surprised to see so many negative reviews for this book, but having read it now I can see why some people might be put off by it. Firstly, it doesn't offer much in terms of plot. In fact, most of the action takes place outside of the narrated time. We begin post rem, learn a lot about past events, are even encouraged to anticipate future events, but the few weeks covered in the story are remarkably uneventful. Secondly, and not coincidentally, the text is deeply introspective, emotional, and it paints a gloomy picture of our (pre-)apocalyptic world. It made me laugh out loud more than once but much of its humor stems from the absurd contrast between the protagonist's resigned levity and her lostness in an indifferent world. But that's also where the story's magic lies. Smallwood manages to turn familiar mundane moments into relevant, poignant observations on life in the 21st century—on fear, privilege, guilt, resignation, powerlessness, acceptance, and even hope. What the story lacks in amusement it more than makes up for in hyper-examined introspection. Yes, there are a lot of stories about academics with low self-esteem, but rarely do they hit as close to home as this one. If that's your jam, you're gonna love it.

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jasperrodriguez's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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thelibraryofalexandra's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

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betris's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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jemima_reads's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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vidyareads's review against another edition

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funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

I thought I would be sad but I wasn’t. It does feel like we are watching a movie, with the use of “She is doing this..” to describe our main character Dorothy.

There isn’t a particular plot to the book but for some reason that I can’t explain, I like it. Other plotless books didn’t have the same sentiment from me so this has to be special.

I’m not revealing any spoilers by stating that there is miscarriage and abortion in this book. Most of the book is about Dorothy going thru a miscarriage. It’s quite detailed, her bathroom visits I mean. thought I would be sad, but I wasn’t. I’ve never been pregnant, so I learnt a lot. If you are in delicate state of mind, pass on this book and come back another time. I also didn’t underline text, I don’t normally but if you do then buy the book because there are many many paragraphs I found highly interesting, otherwise just borrow from your library.

I really thought I would be sad, may be in a way this book revealed something to me about me.

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