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lilac_sparkle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Medical content, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Alcohol and Chronic illness
alchamp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Gaslighting, Racism, Murder, Chronic illness, and Medical content
ireadtoescape_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I was really drawn in by the plot as well.
But it all fell a little flat for me and I honestly struggled to finish it. There was no follow-through in most of these plot lines.
I also didn’t find myself connecting with Lena at all. I think her decisions and lack of suspicion for most of the book had me disconnecting from her. Especially in comparison to how her struggles at the beginning of the book really did pull at my empathy. She really was going through a lot and at first Lakewood made sense as a choice. Even when she had that eerie feeling it was mentioned once and that was that. But things just kept on going and going in this endless miasma of chaotic and alarming situations that I didn’t feel yielded much at all except to shock me as the reader. Nothing was resolved so it still makes no sense. The family history also didn’t go far enough to connect the dots.
I stuck it out but it wasn’t easy and I’m not feeling satisfied at all. Honestly, it was just an endless cycle of the experiments and their consequences to the people but to no specific end. I don’t know if it would have helped if the book was longer. But sadly, I couldn’t connect with it as much as I’d hoped.
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Cancer
kather_doc's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Vomit, Confinement, Classism, Body horror, and Blood
killmoore_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
There were a few moments that could have been pure horror, but Lena's need to be detached and emotionally void dampened the effect, which was disappointing.
I'd recommend as a conversation starter for a book club, or someone looking for a truly interesting concept written as a "stuff happens" sandwich. It begins, stuff happens, then it ends.
Minor: Body horror, Racism, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Confinement, Blood, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Terminal illness
spineofthesaurus's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Violence, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Racism, Self harm, Physical abuse, Torture, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Gaslighting, Stalking, Abandonment, Murder, Classism, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Cancer, Drug abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Slavery, Vomit, Addiction, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Trafficking
Minor: Car accident, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
ericaburns1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Terminal illness, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, and Torture
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
rewildling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Racism, Blood, and Torture
Minor: Slavery
danielles_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A body is like outer space: The more you actively think about it, the smaller you feel, the more detached you feel from the business of living.
Lena’s grandma used to say the difference between us and them is they try as hard as possible to never think about us, and we have to think about them all the time.
I love this book, way more than I expected to. It packs such a punch in its commentary on racism, sexism, poverty, lack of healthcare access, capitalism, the corruption of the United States government and its history of unethical human experimentation, the dehumanization of marginalized peoples, etc… Seriously, this book has so many layers but if never felt overwhelming or forced since it just came naturally with the story Giddings was telling.
I really love Lena. She truly felt like a real person. Her love for her mother and how it was affected by her mother’s chronic illness was really powerful. I also liked seeing how her mother and grandmother compared in their views of the world and how they raised Lena. I especially liked Lena’s reflections on trying to come across as cute and kind and harmless as possible, both because of her experience as a Black woman, but also because of a lifetime spent caring for her ill mom. I was also glad to see the various relationships Lena had both before and after Lakewood, and it was great to see such a close female friendship with her and Tanya, and how their dynamic was affected by their different economic classes as well as the situation Lena was in. I also loved her sense of humor, and Giddings had the perfect timing of jokes vs tense situations vs deep reflections on society.
The atmosphere was SO GOOD. It was tense and eerie and it felt like just waiting for the pin to drop.
And wow, the ENDING! Some might consider this a spoiler, but others like to be warned: the ending is vague and doesn’t really explain anything. But honestly, I think it’s perfect. It also made the eerie atmosphere even more so, because we never know
Do you think people really believe another person’s pain exists?
And the last line was stunning:
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Racism
mlovesbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Gore, Racism, and Blood