Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

136 reviews

kaeschwalber's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I really love this book. The setting was excellent and beautiful, the mfc was relatable and realistic, pacing was great, plot twists were incredible. 

One this I absolutely hated was that the main love interest (Tate) was pedophilic. We only see it (in my opinion) in his age difference, the conversation he has with his father where he talks about how he is specifically attracted to her innocence and purity, and some controlling behaviors when it comes to her other relationship.  She has a history of being abused and from the outside does seem very uninformed and potentially easy to manipulate. Together these redflags were screaming at me the rest of the book as her relationship with Tate develops. This made his character unrealistic to me as I could not understand why a man who was so attracted to her innocence and controlling of her external relationships could partner with a girl that he did not think could or would protect herself without exhibiting other serious forms of control and abuse. 

Finally, the black character in this book absolutely fit into the traditional architype of "only exist to help the white protagonist". The do not have their own plots, beliefs, or goals outside of helping the main character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death of parent

moobubu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

im sweating so bad rn i can never move on from this

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

tonix234's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Racial slurs, Blood, and Car accident

moonbasket's review against another edition

emotional reflective relaxing 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

5.0

I did not know what to expect from this book when I started it. Honestly, it was beyond my expectations from the very beginning and it just kept going. I did not know how it was going to end.

I was pretty sure Kaya wouldn't go to jail, but I honestly did think that she had killed Tate. It made the most logical sense, but it just didn't seem like she had done it. It was definitely a surprise to have that twist at the end, but it all makes sense and it brings a sense of mildly juvenile wonder which I think really matches Kaya's personality because she was neglected for so long and stayed agoraphobic for her who life.

I laughed and cried reading this and it may be one of the best literary novels I have ever read. I am definitely interested in more books like this, with a focus on ecology and personhood. It is extremely good and I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Infertility, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Car accident, and War

Kaya, the main character of this book is subject to extreme childhood neglect from and absent mother and alcoholic father. The book focuses on her abandonment and loneliness as it follows her story.

As a teenager she has a relationship with an older boy who is technically an adult for the later part of their relationship. As a young adult, she has a relationship with an emotionally manipulative young man where he is cheating on her and lying to her regularly. After breaking it off with him, he later chases her down and attempts to rape her. She defends herself and is able to escape him.

There are also graphic flashbacks to her father beating her mother and siblings and discussion of how her town is segregated with black people living in "colored town" separate from the white people. There is mild discussion of the racism of the era, but mostly it is simply treated as matter of fact as it is viewed through the eyes of a child.

aelin_morgenstern's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective

• 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, and War

The book is set in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore, the society is segregated and racial slurs are mentioned.

paulinskaja's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Minor: Infertility

cartermon4's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Sexual assault, and Classism

Minor: Infertility

kourts's review against another edition

emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

reemoony's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

before anything else, fuck delia owens. now, this was genuinely the best book ive read this year. it sucked me in on the first page and kept me there. following kya from her childhood all the way to adulthood become my favorite activity for a week. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent, and War

zams's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Such an atmospheric and beautiful read, I absolutely loved the descriptions of the scenery and what they meant for Kya.
Kya's story definitly had me in my feelings and the murder had me guessing who did it in-between, but I felt like the main focus was on her life and how the surroundings played such a huge role in it.
All in all a great scenic story, an atmospheric read with the tension of a murder mystery woven in.
Allthough the ending wasn't really surprising to me, I still think it was fitting, however, definitly could have used a little more work, it was rather quick and didn't feel very thought through, but as I said the focus was more on the story than the murder-mystery in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence and Murder

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and War