Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake

10 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring 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? No

4.0

Title: The girl in His Shadow
Author: Audrey Blake
Series: Nora Beady #1
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.0
Pub Date: May 4, 2021

T H R E E • W O R D S

Unique • Interesting • Detailed

📖 S Y N O P S I S

After a cholera epidemic claims the lives of her entire family, the orphaned Nora Beady is taken in by Dr. Horace Croft. Being raised in the home of a surgeon, Nora takes a keen interest in the world of medicine, eventually developing an extensive knowledge base. 1840s London had no place for women in medicine, and the consequences of a woman practicing were very grave. For this very reason, only a selective few are aware of Nora's work as a medical assistant. The Girl in His Shadow follows Nora's journey of pushing boundaries, and self-discovery

💭 T H O U G H T S

I've never read anything quite like The Girl in His Shadow! This novel opened up a whole new world of medical history I know very little about, and offered a storyline that was so entirely different. This book felt like a breath of fresh air in the historical fiction genre.

Audrey Blake's writing offered vivid descriptions, to the point I often felt like I was in the room with the characters. There is no denying the plot was extensively and carefully researched, although it did seem long winded and overly scientific at times. The cast of characters were well-round, and Nora is a heroine unlikely any other.

It came as somewhat of a shock when I learned that Audrey Blake is the pseudonym for a writing duo, and that this was co-wrote. There is absolutely no way of knowing it was penned by multiple authors while reading. The Girl in His Shadow is a fascinating account, and I look forward to writing book two in the Nora Beady series, and will be curious to know if there will be more.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• historical fiction lovers
• readers who love a strong female lead
• fans of medical dramas

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"That is the great benefit of being a man, with every opportunity in the world before you. You cannot understand." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Rape, and Sexual assault

pooogsz's review

challenging inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

It was good but a little Slow. The ending was pleasant

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

the_caffeinated_book_dragon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

4.0

I throughly enjoyed this book! The main character, Nora, is a strong, brilliant woman who's medical aptitude is unfortunately hidden from the medical world as her talents (as a woman) are frowned upon by society. The doctor which she lives with is gruff outwardly but has a warm heart, especially toward Nora. I loved the book in its entirety. The characters were engaging, the book was historically accurate, and the story flowed perfectly! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Medical content

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

maralaene's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

This was a really interesting read. The main character Nora, is a brilliant scientist and naturally gifted surgeon in a time when women were not allowed to be either in English society. She struggles with the morality of remaining silent and safe versus using her knowledge and potentially facing prosecution. 

The characters and overall story were beautifully written and captivating. It was not a fast-paced book, but I still felt pulled in to the story. Definitely worth a read if you enjoy historical fiction, with a very realistic approach for its strong female character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Medical content

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Child death, Rape, and Abortion

alyssapusateri's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Excrement, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Rape and Abortion

meganpbennett's review

challenging informative slow-paced

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

1.0

The Girl in His Shadow is really, really, really hard to rate. There were parts of it that were excellent and other parts that were very much in the 'why bother reading or even writing this book.'

The book was very well-written and engaging, and gave a really good look at the time period. I found some of the medical scenes a bit too accurate. As it was period-accurate, there was a lot of misogyny directed at Nora, who was only trying to better herself professionally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

miggyfool's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

Minor: Drug use

hownoveljo's review against another edition

adventurous informative relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Medical trauma

feverdreamhigh's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• 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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Misogyny

Moderate: Miscarriage and Abortion

Detailed descriptions of surgeries, autopsies and dissections throughout the book.

msjk427's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I've been in a historical fiction mood lately, plus, having recently read The Other Einstein and Half Life (about Marie Curie) this drew my attention. While the content is highly technical (the authors include a lot of 1840s medical procedures) and blatantly anatomical, I enjoyed the character development of Nora, Daniel, and even Horace. It was also interesting to see how primitive medicine seemed at the time. And while there was a slight lag in the middle and I'm not a huge fan of enemies to lovers,  overall, I really enjoyed this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Death of parent