Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

49 reviews

thelightsarenorthern's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

annaka's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

I read this book quickly. I borrowed it from KU as an audiobook, but found myself reading it when it was inconvenient to keep listening. Elison knows how to create tension and hook a reader. I found it interesting to see how the world rebuilt after such a tragedy and think I would have enjoyed the book even more if more time had been spent on the rebuilding (versus the surviving much of it does focus on). 

I struggled with the book because of the negative perception of what humanity (particularly mankind) would turn into in this apocalyptic perception. I'm not saying it's inaccurate, but I would hope we'd do better. There was a bit of a heavy focus on sex at times, which wasn't particularly for me. Probably one of the more depressing dystopian books I've read but even so, I found it hard to put down. I enjoyed the read but I'm not sure I will pick up the follow ups in the series due to how dark the book is. I do applaud Elison's choice to have this book stand-alone and not ending on a cliffhanger. After I have some time and a palate cleanser read (or two), perhaps I will look into reading some of the others in the series. I'd be open to reading other books by this author, just maybe not ones as dark. 

Would you read the next one in the series? Possibly, more likely if less dark.
Would you read something else by the author? Yes (see above)
Would you re-read this? Probably not, it was a bit too dark for me to truly enjoy it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

cloroxcrew's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• 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: Death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Murder

_dani's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, and Pregnancy

Minor: Confinement

lexihworth's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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 abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Child death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Grief, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

A large portion of the book is dedicated to a storyline that follows a Mormon settlement, if you have religious trauma related to Mormonism, be aware. This book is HEAVY, but it was also amazingly written and I️ don’t regret reading it.

extraterrestrialcrisis's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

sevenletters's review

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

demonicwitch12's review

dark slow-paced

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

3.0

Mainly sticking to this series as the idea of the book has me hooked and it's good back ground while bathing dogs at work

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jessikalange's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was hesitant to read this book because I don't usually like really sad books. Even though this book is very sad, there is hope in it. I can't really explain it. If you like dystopian books, wait until you need a good cry and then read this book. Also, make sure you read the trigger warnings... There are a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Infidelity, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Alcohol

mollyrook's review

This one is a DNF, largely because I don’t think there was any reason for it to be as rapey as it was. No content warnings, and nothing on the back cover blurb to suggest that this was an apocalypse story about the surviving women being raped constantly by any men who happened to find them. 

I dunno, maybe it goes somewhere spectacular by the end? After the dozen or so sexual assaults in the first hundred pages, I wasn’t willing to stick around to find out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Kidnapping