Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

132 reviews

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was competent, enjoyable historical fiction. The main character was flawed but endearing, and the interweaving of real historical events into her life, especially suffragism, was particularly well done.

I found the second half of this book
after the MC gives away her baby
far more compelling than the first half. This was the point where the book stopped treading water in historical accuracy about the creation of the dictionary, and allowed the MC high-stakes, emotional resonance beyond the historical framing.

I thought the author was successful in depicting a range of women's experiences across different classes, and I have respect for her ability to not get bogged down in her research and prevent it from letting her characters engage in her world building. She gave her characters engaging and believable personalities and allowed their actions space to impact the setting.

The long timeline of the book meant that it felt very jumpy, and it was hard to keep up with the sudden shifts in age. I also found the ending strange - rushed, abrupt, and not entirely earned.

Overall this was a decent book, but it didn't leave much of an impact on me.
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amcaslow's review against another edition

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emotional

3.75

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colorcrystals's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective 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? No

4.0

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aesarctic's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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michellebelle4's review against another edition

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

4.0

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ect625's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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anjh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

wow. although i’d describe this book as historical-fiction which isn’t a genre i find myself interested in very often i really enjoyed this and felt it was very lighthearted and story like to read, as if i were being read a book at bedtime as a child. 

i listened to the audiobook on borrowbox for this while reading which, i’ll be honest, made the experience so much better especially with the different voices for the characters and the beautiful piano music played in the section between each part. 

it’s difficult to describe how beautiful this concept is for a novel, and i would strongly encourage anyone interested in literature and words to read it. i absolutely love how the story focuses on the women whose voices were ignored and dismissed during the creation and publishing of the Oxford English dictionary.

i also love that the hardships for women and gender expectations of the book’s era are well represented, including an absence of women’s rights, the suffragette movement in England and the expectation for women to get married and have children. 

i took off one star just because i found it a bit confusing to keep up with all the characters in the book lol but i genuinely really enjoyed it. 
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avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book was so much sadder than I thought it would be. I thought it would be a light-hearted read about making the Oxford English Dictionary but actually the themes of the First World War and various other personal traumas played a big part in the plot. It was very slow moving, as we follow Esme's whole life and I can't say I ever felt particularly attached to her as a character but the book was compelling nevertheless. 
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knitswhilereading's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

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