Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

20 reviews

rachbreads's review against another edition

2.5

 

I’ve read two other books by Emma Donoghue - Room (my rating: 4/5) and The Wonder (my rating: 5/5). The Pull of the Stars (my rating: 2.5/5) is similar to The Wonder - set in historical Ireland, elements of religious/societal oppression, nurses, a single, small setting for most of the action. What The Wonder had that TPotS lacked is this delicious slow burn tension - there’s a big mystery at the heart of TW that the nurse is trying to figure out, and we as readers realllly want to know what’s happening which keeps you so engaged. Plus there are very few characters so you get really connected to them over the course of the book, as opposed to the revolving door of patients and doctors in TPotS where no one stayed around long enough for me to care about them. 

 

What I liked about TPotS was also what I loved about The Wonder - she intentionally keeps the setting very small it almost feels claustrophobic. So we felt stuck in this tiny fever ward with Julia the same way in TW we felt stuck in this tiny bedroom with the nurse Lib. I will say overall that I was rooting for Julia - she really was trying her best and I wanted her to succeed.

I guess that’s why the ending let me down because Donoghue gave her a hint of happiness with Bridie and then took it away. I guess we could infer that she will be happy making a family with her brother and the baby but it still felt like a letdown. And I feel like we had no indication at all throughout the rest of the book that she would ever do anything like quit her job and take home a baby…

 

Other thoughts - why was Kathleen there? She felt unnecessary as a character other than to give us proof that there was also political unrest happening at the same time as the pandemic. It was interesting to read about the medical beliefs and procedures of the time with regards to pregnancy/maternity as well as the flu and compare them to present day practices - I’m sure she did a lot of research. 

 

Overall, not a terrible book, and it had some interesting moments, but it probably won’t stick with me. I feel like mostly what I’m taking away is an increased horror of childbirth 😂 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ilikenaps's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

midwesternviolet's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

a_mckeever's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and War

Minor: Gun violence and Fire/Fire injury

ginabyeg's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book will definitely give you a taste of nursing in the early 1900’s. Story is fast-paced, engaging from the start, told from the perspective of a still-single nurse in the maternity ward during the 1918-pandemic. Some parts get rather graphic. There are themes of life/death, trauma, and religion. While the book was published in 2020, the author had finished it before that time. I find this makes the character’s insights in the book even more powerful, somehow, and the parallels between then and now extra startling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

booksandteatime's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

brdgtc's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bookscatteandme's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

a_26_l's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

emjay2021's review against another edition

5.0

Fascinating, incredibly moving historical fiction. I had no idea Dr. Kathleen Lynn was based on a real woman doctor at the time. I found Nurse Julia Power to be a warm, quick-witted, appealing narrator and I loved her interactions with the newbie nurse helper Bridie Sweeney.

Emma Donoghue is a beautiful writer, and the audio version of this really does the prose justice. One funny thing about the audio book: I kept thinking the doctor was saying “N’est-ce pas?” an awful lot, and it made me wonder why she would lapse into French so often. Well, it turned out she was actually saying “Nurse Power” in an Anglo-Irish accent. It took me a LONG time to realize it.

This book is set in a quarantine maternity ward during the 1918 flu pandemic, so there is a lot of pregnancy, baby loss, and death. Heads up if these are things you don’t want to read about at this time. I was OK with it, but there was a time when I would not have been. There is also a lot about the abuses perpetuated on women and children by the Catholic Church.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic