Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

96 reviews

alexismoodie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jebrollier's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

I feel like the author was too preoccupied with writing the next great horror Sci Fi novel along the lines of Lord of the Flies or The Island of Dr Moreau, but not occupied enough with just making sure it was well-written. The plot was engaging enough for me to want to finish the book, but the horror was egregious, the ending felt rushed, and there were number of inconsistencies and plot holes. Fine concept, poor execution.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death

ericadawson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

The first half of this book was difficult for me to get through because I could not, for the life of me, pay attention. I'm so glad I stuck through it.

(the lack of attention paid to this book is my own and is not evidence of the craft of this book)

Speaking first of prose, because that's what stuck out to me the most, I loved the writing. The voice reminds me of the sparse language of Christina Henry's Girl in Red, but a little more colorful, a little more dramatic, and a little dense. It's perfect for the events in this book, for what the story is trying to say. 

I love the characters, too. None of them are loveable. They're all a mess, and Hetty gets worse and worse. She makes monumental mistakes that cost lives and she runs away. She forces the guilt down and down because otherwise it'll tear her apart from the inside out. I love her stubbornness, but I also love that mere love for her best friend isn't enough to absolve her of the guilt she feels. I love that death follows her because of that love. I don't think she'll ever escape.

I like Reese too, but wish I could have seen more of Byatt. Headmistress and Welch were a little weak to me as characters, especially headmistress in the end. I also wish I could have gotten more detail about the Tox and the parasite and its history, but I guess there was always meant to be that level of vagueness with it.

This book is the first book I've ever read in YEARS that actually had me scared to read it too late at night. Something about the writing and story and the way the author sets up the scenes had me tight with fear. 

Some parts of the characterization were a little vague and abstract for me, but overall the book was a good read. It works well as a standalone. Highly recommend for people who like body horror and messy teenaged girls.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cursing

VERY graphic, quite gorey, at times pretty gross. These girls are kinda toxic/fucked up, but they're very well rounded.

gandalfsleftshoe's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

agnela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Reese was a great character, it was amazing how they handled her dad's death, but Hetty wasn't that great of a character, I was surprised because this book contains really well thought out twists and characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

melusinedln's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

2.75 stars.

This book is disappointing and I don’t know why the publisher agreed to publish it as it is. When you reach the end, you’re left with even more questions than in the start, and the ending scene, like every other important scene in this book, has no impact at all. It felt like the author wanted a lazy open ending just to be able to make a 2nd book if this one sold well.
Also, the queer romance between 2 of the characters is underdeveloped despite being one of the main point used by the publisher to sell the book.

It’s generating a lot of frustration in me because the idea was really good, but it was so poorly executed. I had a nice time reading some parts of the book, and okay time reading most of them, and I was so frustrated when I reached the lazy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

kira20's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Honestly took forever to read. I kept going back to see if itd get better. I didn't connect with any of the characters or relationships. I finished it but just barely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

laughingrecord's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

cupofcauliflower's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

my god this is an incredible book, will recommend this for people who wont take my advice to not read the troop by nick cutter (or who really want to but want to build up to it) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

nicosta_music's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I feel like Wilder Girls is being done a disservice by being marketed as Lord of the Flies but with girls. Both books involve one gender of schoolchildren being stuck on an island, but the similarities stop there. And speaking as someone who hated Lord of the Flies: thank god that they do. 

Wilder Girls was a truly exciting read -- the plot kept me hooked the entire way through, and the characters were interesting and engaging. I thought the world-building was interesting and the different twists were essential in continuously raising stakes throughout the book. I think my only complaint is that

the ending does feel a bit underwhelming. It sort of leaves the book open to a sequel, but not enough so that I felt it was a good ending. It reads more like the author just didn't know how to end the book so it was left ambiguous.

But besides that, I still thoroughly enjoyed Wilder Girls, and it definitely defied my expectations in a good way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, and Cursing

Minor: Torture and Vomit