Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

9 reviews

megritchey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Child death, Sexual assault, and Death

Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, and Racial slurs

Minor: Abortion, Excrement, Antisemitism, Genocide, Blood, Suicide, and Pregnancy

jbpalumbo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

A sweeping historical war-time novel; almost a math geek's League of Their Own. I enjoyed learning about an aspect of WWII history that I had not previously heard about. I also thoroughly enjoyed coming along for the ride of the (fictionalized) rise, fall, and rise again of a trio of war-time friends. As one would expect with a novel set in England during WWII, there is a fair amount of discussion around loss and violence. As the book is centered on a trio of women, the loss and violence they experience is, to a certain degree, reflective of their gender and the patriarchal constructs of the time, though I do appreciate the author's challenge to these experiences. There was just enough romance blended into the book and a solid HEA/HFN for each of the primary characters to keep it from being a complete, war-time downer, though please do read through the content warnings if you have any sensitivity to specific issues because, in more than 600 pages, pretty much every type of loss/traumatic experience is explored to some degree. I did not love that the character coded as autistic ends up spending

three and half years in a mental institution

, even if it was completely irrelevant to their neurodiversity. It just felt kind of ick. Though I, overall, enjoyed the character development, after about 500 pages, had to chuckle at the neat twists that had to snap into place to get to the HEA/HFN. While improbable on balance, those twists make for a satisfying (if not slightly madcap) outcome to an interesting corner of well-fictionalized history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Confinement, Abandonment, Cancer, Classism, Child death, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, and Bullying

Moderate: Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Torture, Terminal illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abortion

The racism and islamophobia are challenged to a degree. There is also a favorable depiction of an open marriage where criticism thereof is challenged.

julia_treat99's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcohol, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Blood, Cancer, Genocide, Racial slurs, and War

mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, War, Child death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Terminal illness, and Abortion

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I had no idea about Bletchley Park or the work that was done there during World War II. This historical-fiction did a great job of giving me some insight into what went on at BP and who the people working there were. This book is equal parts funny, hopeful, devastating, thought-provoking, and sad. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, and Child abuse

bookiemonster's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Vomit, Rape, Mental illness, and Cursing

ahallen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Gore, and Sexual assault

kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, and Vomit

ninjamuse's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Ableism, Cancer, Medical trauma, Infidelity, and Alcoholism

Minor: Animal cruelty