Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

19 reviews

rnhgg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? 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: Miscarriage, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Sexism, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Blood, and Death of parent

abitterknitter's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

fleurdeavis's review against another edition

informative sad 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? It's complicated

2.25

Just felt a bit off-put after researching further into the author. Atmospherically gorgeous, however. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, and Medical trauma

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

jackiejae's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

Well-written but the subject matter was not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense 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

My book group chose this for April 2024.

It broke my heart several times and was beautiful the whole way through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism and Abandonment

megcordoba's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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? N/A

5.0

I wanted to live in this story, even though I didn’t want my life to be anything like that of the characters. Lisa See knows how to build a setting, and I connected to the characters whose lives could not be more different than my own. I cared for them all deeply, in spite of any flaws. That’s good storytelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Blood

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Physical abuse and Violence

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

micaelamariem's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women was a beautiful historical fiction novel inspired by a real woman during 15th century China who learned medicine and treated other women despite society’s ill regard of women doing so. I loved watching Yunxian learn all the rules of society and then disregard them when she could, struggling with what she believed was right and what was expected of her. This novel isn’t just about that, though. At its core, it is a novel about friendship, and how, no matter how many things try to pull two friends apart, they wouldn’t let their friendship crack. The novel made me cry and angry at parts (like how women were treated in the 1400s) but that shows how much of an emotional tie I had to these characters. There was also so political intrigue in the book and that definitely kept me on my toes. Just a note though: not a book to read if you’re squeamish, as there is an emphasis on childbirth, smallpox, and foot binding that is a bit graphic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

greymalkin's review against another edition

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

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

5.0

While a lot of the actual incidents and illnesses were not easy to read in and of themselves, the book itself is a compelling read.  Dr. Tan was an amazing woman!  Incredible that she was a real person

and that many of the cases used in the book were actual cases she wrote up and published.

 

I really like how thoroughly Lisa See researches stuff and then ties it all together into a fascinating story rather than a bunch of research papers stapled together.   It was also really nice to have this deep dive into Ming Dynasty medical practices, an area that I know very little about.

Particularly I really liked how Ms. See walked that fine line of having a character who had internalized a lot of the patriarchal and elitist toxicity but didn't seem cowed by it.  The other characters, especially Miss Zhao, who taught her how to have healthy female friendships and to see beyond her tendencies to be self-centered were really well done.  The treatments are fascinating and I loved learning in the afterword that several treatments are still being used today, with success!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, and Sexual harassment