Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Recursion by Blake Crouch

10 reviews

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

This novel is a trip. It puts you through an emotional gamut while reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

The world gets destabilized at points in this book. There’s the question of what types of unpleasant events should be intervened on if that’s a possibility. There’s a prominent element to the plot of this book which involves self harm. Personal tragedies are also quite focused on in this plot. The things that happen across life like declining health of yourself and family members is prominent as well. The question of what would you do for your loved ones is intermingled throughout the twisty plot. I loved this book throughout. It’s one of my favorite things read in 2024.

elizafiedler's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I made the mistake of listening to part of this book (the part where Barry loops back and forth with the most frequency, the most futile-feeling part) while stuck waiting and being ignored in the Apple store, surrounded by that sterile, sensory hellscape. Don't make a similar mistake. Listen to it in the open air; it gets existentially claustrophobic in parts. But still, it's an amazing, creative, and ultimately affirming book about human consciousness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Dementia, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

lavinia_speaks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

ursiform's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

katiefurms's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

such an incredible and thought provoking read. i really loved it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

adaora_ble's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

It's been a while since I read some sci-fi so this was a nice way to jump back into it!

I really liked how they built up the mystery and the internal logic of the universe of what exactly was going on, despite the blurb I wasn't really certain what I was getting myself into so it was nice to learn alongside the characters and get the same life plot twists that they do when they're thrown into crazy situations.

I really liked the characters, I was a bit worried I wouldn't like Detective Barry Sutton because he's a divorced dad with a dead daughter and he just felt like every action guy ever + he also reminded me of another detective from a book that ended up sucking but he really grew on me, he became my favourite character from the book although it terms of likeable characters there wasn't a huge number to chose from. The other main character Helena is heartbreaking because she only ever tried to do good and everyone else kept getting in the way of that.
The side characters felt very real and the thriller elements felt just sinister enough to leave you guessing what was going on. I definitely recommend this book if you like detective stories, sci-fi or just a two people going through life and learning from their mistakes.

There's a definitive shift in the trajectory of the plot that was slightly jarring because it felt very much like Part 1 and Part 2 but they tie together in the end by being a story of Barry's character development and him understanding his own role in his interpersonal relationships. It was very much his second chance at the life that he wanted. The last 3rd of the book was way more hardcore than the rest of it, more grisly but it was necessary for the story and to drive home how hard everyone was trying to work to a good ending.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

karyan1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Blood, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

hgunsch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Dementia, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic

literary_bug's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.5

this was by far the most stressful book i have ever read, absolutely mind ending and thrilling but by the end i was relieved to finish it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

readingwithmeredith's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Normally I enjoy sci-fi set in a “real world” but I couldn’t get my head around this concept. Just not the book for me. It also had a lot of trigger warnings (suicide/violence) that were difficult and caused me to have to put down but I also wanted to push through because so many have loved this book. I didn’t feel like it was worth finishing but glad I tried it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail