Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Degenerates by J. Albert Mann

8 reviews

emflipspages's review

dark hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Medical content

andatherrin's review

dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

calamitywindpetal's review

adventurous emotional informative 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Miscarriage, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Terminal illness

saffyre's review

dark emotional hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Excrement, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

tc_booksandmore's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Read the content warnings, there's a lot of out dated language (historically accurate) that denigrate the characters.

bybookandbone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book put me through the ringer. It's absolutely fantastic and made me tear up at several points.
Knowing that 215 children's bodies were found at a Canadian Indigenous residential school and 796 children were found buried in a septic tank at a Mother and Baby home in Tuam (Ireland)... not to mention asylums and the 'schools' in Australia, The Degenerates hit hard.

Set in a time where young girls can be incarcerated and labelled 'morons' or 'imbeciles' for the crime of being pregnant, in the way, LGBTQ+, having a clubfoot or numerous other ailments, The Degenerates follows four girls during their incarceration. Rose is my absolute favourite character in this. She's so sweet and happy despite how dark her life is. She's the first DS character I've read the POV of and I now realise that's a flaw in my reading. Her sister Maxine is wonderful too and I can't give much away as it's an important story beat but she literally has no 'illness'. Neither does London, who is beaten and arrested for being pregnant. Alice has a club foot but that's it.  
Many of the women and girls at this institution have little or no ailments, though regardless, none deserve to be there and treated the way they are. 
It's the story of people who society is trying to pretend don't exist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexism and Lesbophobia

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

dominikag's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

piperlee's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Degenerates follows the narratives of four girls who are institutionalized against their will in a “school” claiming to protect both the girls and the community from harm. The author grounds the story in the historic reality of the horrors that result when humans try to forcefully remove certain people groups from society under a false pretense of “betterment.” I found myself drawn to the characters and gaining a new understanding of the history behind force institutionalization and eugenics through their story. I especially appreciated the dignity with which the author portrayed several of the main characters who had various disabilities - even centering the voice of a girl with Down Syndrome as one of four primary protagonists. Overall, this book is eye-opening and challenging, while maintaining a sense of hope.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Confinement, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Police brutality

While this book deals with numerous challenging and potentially triggering topics, I found the author approached it in an accessible and non-overwhelming manner.