Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Burntcoat by Sarah Hall

7 reviews

flissrobyn's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

I read this after it was recommended by StoryGraph. It’s not my usual read, and I went in not knowing what to expect. 

My only response is… wow. I finished it within 4 hours of starting it, and couldn’t tear myself away. 

It was confusing to start, and that felt intentional. The lack of chapters left you having to really try to figure out at which point of time you were in. 

The book is written as if a letter to someone. As the book progressed, in tandem you learned more about the narrator, and their life and illness. It was mysterious and haunting. 

The first half read like a love letter, and then it becomes clear that it’s not. 

The story, the writing, made me feel a lot of emotions, and I’m still  reeling from it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Vomit, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Abandonment

jay_hobday's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

amyymon's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Imagine that COVID-19 was even more lethal. That's what the virus, aka novavirus or AG3, that's sweeping the world of Burntcoat is like. Hall wrote this book at the beginning of lockdown in March 2020 - and it shows. Hall makes numerous eerie and unsettling parallels to our own pandemic. I honestly found it difficult as a reader to reckon with a phenomenon that is still so current.

There are two primary threads in this story. The first thread follows Edith's experience with her lover Halit during the novavirus pandemic. The second is Edith's reflections on growing up with her mother, a stroke survivor. Ultimately, Burntcoat weaves a tale that is somehow both bleak and beautiful. In writing this novel, Sarah Hall has written a lyrical and humane take on the full spectrum of mortality.

Though I personally found this novel to be a little too on-the-nose, I am definitely looking forward to reading more of Hall's work. Her beautiful prose has enchanted me and I'd love to experience more of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

lola_milk's review

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

I gave this book four stars because I was very moved by the relationship between the main character and her mother, who raised her as a single mum even though she had brain damage. I also enjoyed reading about the main character's artistic process. 

However, I'm not sure if these elements paired well with the narrative about the main character and her lover trying to survive a pandemic. The relationship with the lover was just not as compelling as her relationship with her mum, and I am very burnt out on pandemic stories for obvious reasons. 

The book was beautifully written, with gleaming prose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Dementia

Moderate: Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

wherethebooksgo's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

emilygigs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I can see myself revisiting this one in a decade or so; the writing about a pandemic and life in lockdown and the fear that comes when a partner is ill — all of it is spot-on. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism, Car accident, and Abandonment

Pandemic content Second-person POV