Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd

14 reviews

lucymaydavis's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

literarylily's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad

5.0

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, so my enjoyment of this one really took me by surprise. It deals with many difficult subjects, but I feel that Dr Shepherd handled them well. I enjoyed how he delved into the science without leaving non-medical readers behind, and gave the historical basis of why certain causes of death were or were not commonly given at different times. 

I found it fascinating hearing about how the world of forensic pathology changed throughout the course of his career, how that impacted him and the field as a whole. He was very human in his recounting of various cases, being open about his struggles and failures. 

It is a well-balanced read, both between his personal life and work, and talking about famous and every-day cases. Other authors may have relied too heavily on the cases readers would recognise (such as Stephen Lawrence or the Marchionness disaster) but Dr Shepherd made the unknown cases just as interesting and really showed the full picture of his work. 

It is a difficult read at times, but so so worth it. This is a unique insight into a career that remains glamourised and mystified by modern tv shows, shedding light on what it is really like and the effects the career can have on those that stick with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Racism, Self harm, Blood, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt

louise_maw's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

sineadisreadingagain's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

nojerama's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

A follow up from reading Beyond The Tape by Dr Marie Cassidy last year. A fascinating book that captivated me from the get go, and the more reflective tone and focus on Dr Shepherd's mental health was an interesting perspective to pair alongside the clinical case studies. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Excrement, and Dementia

alisonannk's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Police brutality, and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer

eliel's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

anniereads221's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ymer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This was absolutely fascinating. From the high profile cases to those that were completely unknown, Shepherd manages to find the perfect balance between clinical language and narrative prose, from initial examination through to court and conviction in some cases. He writes really well; the post-mortems are scientific enough to keep from being hard to stomach, but not so detached that you can't also feel empathy for the victims, their families and those involved in the deaths.

Some of the bureaucracy becomes so frustrating, and the toll it takes on Shepherd's personal life is awful. But he writes with such brilliant clarity and it's one of those rare non-fictions that reads enough like a novel I couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Death of parent