Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

20 reviews

smiti_nathan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Outing

emilywc's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Murder

churrocaitie's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

What a fun book that felt like an adventure of a lifetime for women in the “Bridgerton” era (aka Regency England). 

It took me a good halfway through before I saw where the book was going but when I got there, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I enjoyed how special each new character was that was introduced, and I loved how unique and dark Alison Goodman wrote the storyline with “history” as a baseline. I’m always a sucker for anything not-modern and I totally got my fix in this, while also enjoying a story that was perfectly adventurous enough for my liking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexism, Violence, Excrement, and Grief

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

goldseamedglass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Minor: Infidelity and Slavery

turrean's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.25

Kudos for queer representation, for sharing a character’s journey away from religious belief, and for some fascinating Regency vulgarities.

However, the  lighthearted Austenesque situation at the beginning of the book is quickly overshadowed by some horrific set pieces (the brothel, the hospital, the madhouse.) The descriptions of human trafficking, rape, brutal and inhuman incarceration, and the tortures of surgery with no anesthesia were doubtless historically accurate but no less painful to read. The copy of the book I read had an excerpt of a review right above the title: “Smart and sassy!!” which was an odd choice for a book that tells unflinchingly of the treatment of women in that era. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Trafficking, and Medical trauma

The book is tagged as “lighthearted” by many readers. No. It’s not.

alyssajp's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

Adventurous. Action. Feminist. Sisterhood. A bit of romance. Tackles some heavy topics including breast cancer, faith, confinement, graphic neglect/abuse; not a "light-hearted" read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Classism

Minor: Rape

jchinzi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, and Medical trauma

katievallin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Incest, Infertility, Racism, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

katross4's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Medical trauma

parchment_and_papyrus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

 

Review of ‘The Benevolent Society for Ill-Mannered Ladies’ by Alison Goodman 

Gus and Julia are two very different twins in both look and personality. Gus, standing at 5 foot 9 is independent, intelligent, daring, and feisty. Julia is more demure, empathic, loving, fiercely loyal and stands at a ‘ladylike’ 5 foot 2. We meet the twins on the second anniversary of Julia’s fiancée’s death. Still mourning his loss, the twins are navigating regency life as aging spinsters. A dear friend, Charlotte, finds herself on the brink of scandal when the twins step in. A favour that will lead to adventures and heroics that no-one could have predicted. A beautiful journey of deception, violence, fear, romance and above all sisterly love.  

What a joy this book was to read, I really didn’t want to put it down. There was never a dull moment in the lives of the Colebrook twins. The book was split into sections, each following a new ‘case’. And I say ‘case’ because it’s not like they are a detective agency taking on new clients, these are just situations that the twins find themselves in as their reputation for fairness and fearlessness goes before them. Do not fear, although these cases are not connected as such, there are connections within them. Relationships are built, characters developed, and longer-term stories evolved. 

I particularly liked how Goodman brought in topics that are so important today, like LGBT rights and mental health, and used real historical artifacts to present them in the Regency era. Some of the beliefs and therefore outcomes for people in the story are really quite horrendous so if you are triggered by these topics read with care, it’s especially difficult knowing that some of the accounts are based on real reports of the day. But it’s clear Goodman knows her regency history, you can see it in the world building, the context setting, the small details, that no stone was left unturned. I have read a lot of regency era novels and I still learnt some facts from this book. 

This book was written from the perspective of Gus and I’m so glad it was, because she is fierce! If you like historical settings where women act with modern attitudes, then this is a book for you. Gus in a lot of ways reminds me a bit of Elizabeth Bennet, if Lizzy had had a twin that brought her down to earth. Like Lizzy and Jane, Gus and Julia’s relationship is a wonder. It made me wish I had a twin sister. They both use the unspoken to communicate their feelings and ideas. A pause here, a nod there and a whole conversation has been divulged, it showed a love and intimacy that trumped all others. 

And I can’t go any further without commenting on the romance. At first it all happened a bit too quick for me. Gus’s love interest was calling her, ‘my dear’ (cringe! Regency language always gets me.) way too quickly. I’m all for love at first sight but the immediate use of endearments in a regency setting just didn’t work for me. Even if they felt that way, they would have such a wall of reserve that it made it feel artificial. Having said that as soon as it was out there, I pretty much forgot about it and boy was I invested. There was even a [spoilers ahead: skip to the next paragraph] there’s only one bed scenario and who doesn’t love that! 

I would definitely recommend if you like your historical fiction light hearted and easily digestible. A great summer read and a good foot in the door if you are trying the genre out for the first time. I can’t wait for the next instalment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Rape, and Lesbophobia