Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

156 reviews

revon's review against another edition

emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Terminal illness

queenkath32's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

thunderthighs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

This story is told in 3 parts, the first part is very information forward and reads like a college paper with little emotional draw and very repetitive information because there are so many women who were affected. The 2nd part is where the story picks up and starts to be more of a narrative of what happened. For this reason this book really is an extraordinary recounting of what happened and the neglagence that these women faced. Highly recommend this read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage

skoot's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

3.0

Great prose. Personally wish it went into more detail about legal and court proceedings but what was included was very good. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Classism

gisreading's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad

5.0

This book tears your heart apart for these poor women while leaving you amazed by their bravery, and frustrates you to no end at the selfish, greedy people that will do anything for money. It's entirely one thing to hear about the radium girls in passing as you grow up, hearing only the surface of what they suffered in their short lives. It's another to read in detail the horrifying way these women's lives ended, and the way so many people knew and ignored the dangers they knew radium possesses. It's yet another terrifying example of what money and power can do to cause innocent people their lives, while others prosper and turn a blind eye. These women will be forever loved and adored for all they have done for others, as well as celebrated for their amazing fight for justice. Rest easy, girls.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness and Miscarriage

oh_no's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

absolutely awful content, wonderful book! honestly, if this wasn't non-fiction I'd classify it as a horror! I went through so many emotions while reading : shock, sadness, indignation, anger and sorrow for all those poor girls. my only complaint is that the story is at times hard to follow, sometimes the character have extremely similar, if not identical names. this can't be helped though, as this follows the story of real people. 

would recommend to those who have the stomach for it, regardless of whether they usually read non-fiction (I personally, do not!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion and War

badger_ti_robespierre's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Should be required reading 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

jcstokes95's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

2.5

Unfortunately, I feel like I’m giving a somewhat conflicted review here. The story contained within this book is harrowing and elicited a lot of fury from me as I read. We follow a score of women, in New Jersey and Illinois, who worked for USRC, painting dials with radium, unknowingly pouring poison into their systems for years. I should say, the poor women did not know, the company knew radium was dangerous from its creation. The main reactions I had while reading were wanting to scream OR wanting to find these men’s grave to shit on them. So….in that sense, Kate Moore really does get to the core of the story, which had been pretty much untold through a humanitarian lens. 

However, I don’t feel I can call this book a runaway favorite because Moore’s writing style is substantially lacking. The chapters were punctuated with what felt like trite little speeches in the author’s voice. But they became repetitive… as did some of the evidence she was providing. I read this via audiobook, and at times I felt like I’d heard the line before in reference to other women. This made the 16 hour runtime feel like it could have been more succinct, thus having a larger impact. Something in Moore’s voice lacks the warmth to fully bring parts of this story to life. But I can’t fully fault her, because it’s clear the research for this book must have been painstaking. And I respect that she has created a real, readable record of these stories. 

These women suffered from conditions that are frankly nauseating to read about. I can’t imagine living in the pain they did. Or having the strength of character and dignity they carried to fight a corporation which was so sinful. I mean, there is a point where they essentially steal a fucking body. And publish private medical information of a dead woman. I read this feeling only rage, so I recommend it, even though there are shortcoming in how it is written and structured.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

lovetlr's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Really enjoyed the human element of the radium girls

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Death of parent

bmpicc's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5

Do not read if you have dental anxiety! I remember people talking about radium and the shining women. I don't remember anyone discussing their teeth, jaws, shattering bones, and unnecessarily early deaths. This was an incredible story.

Like Moore's book 'The Woman They Could Not Silence', I appreciate learning at the end the laws added to the books, the why behind her decision to write the book, etc. I'll be following this up with the graphic novel.

"You fight and you fall and you get up and fight some more. But there will always come a day when you cannot fight another minute more.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cancer, Infertility, and Miscarriage