Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Yo que nunca supe de los hombres by Jacqueline Harpman

37 reviews

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.75

This was a beautiful, haunting, moving book. I had put off reading it as the themes sounded incredibly heavy, but after a friend's recommendation and assurance that it was more of a reflective read I decided to tackle it. 

While the book's themes are complex, heavy, and at times very dark, Harpman's treatment of the subject matter is more meditative and philosophical than shock provoking. There are many ruminations on what it means to be human, on navigating love, gender, and human connection when you have been given no reference point. 

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needs resolutions to their mystery fiction but if you are looking for a powerful and ambivalent piece of speculative literature I could not recommend it more.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Minor: Violence and War

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

this was heartbreaking. to begin with, i wasn’t sold on this book, but the more i read, the more i became invested and felt both melancholy and serenity.

i really can’t explain why this book enthralled me so much. the writing was superb, but although the protagonist lacked characterisation beyond her motivations, i was rooting for her.

usually when i review a book or contemplate my thoughts surrounding it, i like to break down my thoughts based on the writing, the plot, the characters, and how it made me feel emotionally. but this book is the first that is difficult to explain why it evoked such deep emotions in me. maybe because i can relate to the protagonist, who feels as though she is meandering her whole life. maybe it’s because i wanted to see if she would find civilisation, and how the book ends. or maybe this book is enigmatic and truly sits in its own field. i can’t say a single book ive read comes close to this one in terms of its plot & deeper themes. it is in a genre of its own, floating around on bookshelves, just like the protagonist.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Moderate: Terminal illness, Excrement, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

jess_orjess's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

This book was a lot more enjoyable than I imagine, even despite the fact the

second half of it was centered around nomadic journeys, and eventually the acceptance that simply nobody will be found, nor will she experience anything different.

I like the pacing; it was complicated for me to explain, as at some points, it was fast and skipped periods of several years, and at other points, it was slow. The lack of action, however, made the majority of it feel slow. 

I also liked the philosophical ramblings, the irony of the end, the dwindle of hope present. 

I’ve only rated it 3.75 simply because there truly wasn’t a lot of anything in the book, which was the point I know! But still, you go in expecting a great forest of adventure adventure, and find only green grass and shrubs.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

tlaynejones's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.0

No. 
Maybe my brain has melted from the relentless onslaught of euthanasia (ableism?) and suicide but I don’t think this is a particularly feminist novel. I think even if it was back in the mid 90s, it doesn’t stand the test of time. I also found some of the events/ learnings/ descriptions related to the protagonist to feel clunky and or inauthentic. 
This is a bleak story, and there is not a lot of complex character development; other than the MC all the characters are barely sketched in. 
Read with caution

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.25

As much as I appreciate and enjoyed the ideas in this book, the execution didn't really click for me. Even without knowing the author's professional background, it would be quite obvious to notice that there was some psychoanalysis stuff going on. 

The writing was okay, but nothing to write home about, which I probably expected more of, because of all the praise this book received lately.

There were some interesting questions raised to think about and I am reading a lot of bleak and depressing books, so I had no problem with this story being as plotless as it was.
I can also love an apocalyptic book in which the reason for it all is not explained (looking at you The Road), if this is not really what the book is about.

You could argue that this is also not what this story is about and you could just read everything as a metaphor for misogyny and patriarchy and to raise some big questions about resilience and the surving of the human race (women in particular). 

However the way the story is build, it is a weakness of the book that not at least some of the questions are answered, because this would have only made the novel stronger. And I couldn't help but think that the author simply didn't want us to know, but that she didn't know herself, because that wasn't the focus of the story she wanted to tell. But authors should always have all the answers to their stories, even when they are holding them back from the reader, because otherwise it always shows.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Deportation

Moderate: Mental illness, Excrement, and Dementia

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

m_a_j's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Blood, and Medical content

homosexualstudying's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense

4.75

A beautiful writing style. a riveting and gripping concept. challenging and reflecting to read. 
almost stopped reading because it got a bit too dark for myself, but i’m so glad i continued. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Suicide

Moderate: Cancer, Medical content, and Trafficking

maybe_nell's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I have so many questions. Read in one sitting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Cancer

sydneylount's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Infertility, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

paperkindle's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cancer, Dementia, and Kidnapping

Minor: Violence