Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

72 reviews

dmsmith914's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

minniepauline's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative sad 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? Yes

3.75

I liked this novel, and I learned a lot from it. But I didn’t felt drawn in and immersed in the way I was hoping to feel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

thewolvesread's review against another edition

informative mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm never drawn to historical fiction, but read this one for an irl book club. I ended up liking it. It was continuously intriguing and kept having to google some of the historical facts in it because wanted to learn mnore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Abortion

Minor: Cancer

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

kmv0110's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

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

erintempleton's review against another edition

informative reflective sad

• Loveable characters? No

3.25

alexa, play 'labour (the cacophony)' by paris paloma.
this book also reminds me of Silence by Shusaku Endo (1966) and The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013). The former because of its overwhelmingly depressing narrative, and the latter for its portrayal of a strong-willed woman trampled by a male-dominated society. if your expectation is to see a group of women trash the patriarchy, this is absolutely not the book for you.

the first thing i'll say about this book is that it was pretty gross. there were several times while reading it that made me feel physically sick to my stomach for one reason or another (see: foot binding, extreme misogyny, medical content, emotional abuse, 14 year old concubines, etc.), so it was not an overall enjoyable read for me personally. the narrative just kept doubling down on the harsh realities of being a woman during this time, so much so that i found myself drowning in their collective fear and hopelessness quite a lot; the balance of light and dark was overwhelmingly dark. i can appreciate the realism and the research behind all these things, but i did not have a good time ingesting them.

the second thing i'll say is that i didn't love the delivery of the info dump sessions. it was kind of unique to couch them in lessons and oral teachings, but it felt so stiff every time someone would ask yunxian to recite Confucian ideals or medical information. like sneaking vegetables into a child's food except they're so big that you can pick them out. i learned a lot, but i didn't feel like i was reading a story at times.

i think i'm still processing what i was meant to take away from this book, especially after the post script note explaining what happens to yunxian's family later on. i get that her medical practice was her legacy, rather than her family, but that just makes all of her sacrifices for the latter feel so hollow and meaningless. she suffered for her entire life and never fought the system that made her suffer, and the system does not reward her for that suffering in the least. it feels a lot like the story of moses coming down the mountain post-exile with the ten commandments to find the israelites worshipping an idol of another god. what was it all for, then? 
(also wikipedia says that tan yunxian had two sons, and they both died young, so why didn't we get THAT in this story?)

on a positive note, i was very surprised at the through-line of yunxian and meiling's relationship; that served as a balm for the rest of the novel, and i was surprised at how direct Lisa See was in comparing them to traditional spouses. they had a beautiful connection, and it rightfully took up a lot of space in the novel. added a whole star to my rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer and Vomit

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

nehaanna's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic