Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

29 reviews

mdwsn27's review against another edition

informative mysterious slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fatphobia, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

weiwuxivns's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I really did enjoy how informative about ancient Chinese medicine and society this was, and inspiring in the placement of value and focus on women and their relationships with each other. The characters were written with realistic values yet overcame the societal constraints to form empathetic and loving relationships with each other in their own ways. I love it showed female companionship in literature doesn’t rely on simply girlbossing the women, instead describing female strength within the bounds of cultural norms.

I did fly through this book but I couldn’t find myself as emotionally invested as I thought I’d be. While there is significant character development of Yunxian, I did feel like her as a narrator and her interactions with most of the characters were held at a distance from me as a reader. I think more could’ve been done in the earlier parts of the book establishing her progressing relationship with Meiling, although most of the latter half makes up for it. There was a lot of time jumping and some of it was definitely necessary but I did feel at times I was missing parts of the character development and the life of the world around Yunxian.

That all being said this was definitely a good and reflective read, and I wanna believe although this was about platonic friendship, Yunxian and Meiling’s relationship definitely felt more than that :) would root for them to be lovers in a better era…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Miscarriage, and Blood

Moderate: Infertility and Misogyny

Minor: Child death and Chronic illness

carminhomarrana's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jmeier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kappafrog's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

I love the idea behind this book of fleshing out what Tan Yuxian's life might have been like. This was rich with historical details. I really appreciated how See struck a balance between making the female characters in a deeply patriarchal world sympathetic while not being afraid to show the ways they perpetuated many of their culture's harmful practices against women. While this did make the protagonist less likeable the older she got, I still found it a compelling story. We as modern readers (rightly) find footbinding disgusting, but it was reality for centuries of women in China, and See did a good job exploring the realities of how women had to cope with that system.

At the core of this book is the way communities of women in Ming China could band together to support each other, and that made for a very good read. I'd also note that the relationship between Meiling and Yanxian came across as pretty sapphic, with Yanxian frequently struck by Meiling's beauty. I thought it was realistic that they didn't pursue a relationship, but I felt like the romantic aspect between them was an important part of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Alcohol, and War

ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.25

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See is a captivating historical novel about friendship, resilience, and the lives of women medical professionals in the 15th century.

The story also explores chronic pain through the lens of bound feet, adding depth and authenticity to the narrative. While some parts are difficult to read due to the harsh realities of the time, the bonds between the women and their dedication to healing make this a compelling and inspiring read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Blood

Minor: Miscarriage and Murder

afroonyx_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

Loved it but it did drag at times, felt like some things could have been cut.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Misogyny

Moderate: Miscarriage and Torture

puali's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

“It takes a lifetime to make a friend, but you can lose one in an hour,” she recites. “Life without a friend is life without sun. Life without a friend is death.” 

While this novel wasn’t quite what I expected, I enjoyed it all the same. I wish that the story started at another point in Tan Yunxian’s life, or perhaps that it had been told in a nonlinear way. This is because it felt like we barely got to see her “circle of women,” which is what I wanted to read about the most. 

Apart from that, I appreciated the level of detail when came to Chinese medicine and traditions. I’m always keen on learning about cultures that my education system failed to teach me about, so when I come across novels like this, I absorb as much information as possible, and then keep on researching on my own. Fair warning though: this story goes into great detail about foot binding. I’ll admit, I was a bit uncomfortable reading through said passages…

All in all, worth the read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Miscarriage, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Cancer, Torture, Abortion, and Death of parent

vivelaclaire's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

chillriver28's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

This book where to start it was amazing it truly felt like every time i picked this up i was right back in it. The ending wasn’t particularly sad yet I found myself wanting to cry. I have already recommended this book to everyone I know. Probably one of my new favorites it was so interesting and now I want to read all the text used for research in this book. While some parts had me wincing from fear and pain and other had me smiling and laughing every part was enjoyable. I truly loved this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism

Not much explicitly but there are a few scenes as this is a book about a female doctor where we see some brutality. She also struggles with some pregnancy problems. Their is a detailed miscarriage about another character.