Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

28 reviews

curlywiggles's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

5.0

This is a brilliant piece of narrative non fiction. It's well researched and well written. It uses the 'disappearance' of Jean McConville as a framing device to tell a wider picture of the Provos involvement during The Troubles. It you are looking for more on the loyalists or on Britain's involvement, then you'd need to do some wider reading. 

The book also delves into the Belfast Project, or the Boston Tapes which is fascinating.

In the beginning it takes a while to get your head around the different 'chatacters' and the book moves back and forth in time, but you get to grips with it so bear with it. 

This was a real eye opener, and really interesting. But very dark. I needed to take breaks from it and I'd recommend checking the content warnings. Having said that, I still read it in a week as it does read like a thriller. 

I appreciated that the narrator was Northern Irish, and for the most part he's very good. But in the later part of the book he starts taking weird pauses. Not for effect, but in the middle of sentences. It's a bit random and distracting. 

I know this is a 5 start read for me as I keep thinking about it and wanting to talk about it with people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, and War

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Mental illness

tiff__dawg's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

katrinaburch's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

This book is one that should be on anyone's list who has an interest in the Troubles. It is well researched and well written. I was a teenager when the Good Friday Agreement was signed and while I knew a little at the point that was going on, I have since learned more through books like Edward Rutherfurd's Dublin and Morgan Llywellen's The Irish Century series. But those are both fiction, this is narrative non-fiction. Yes, the author does state that it doesn't begin to cover all that is needed to know about one of the most complex conflicts in the world, but it's a start. 

I did have to knock it down a star for the author not using footnotes and ONLY using endnotes. As a historian, this drives me nuts. Endnotes are for your sources, footnotes are for extra information!

Overall, it's a very good book and should be read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

k1ras_magic's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Dua Lipa's book club for the win. I knew next to nothing of "The Troubles" and had very basic knowledge of the IRA and the whole thing. This book was so interesting, compelling & hooks you right from the beginning, it's a beautiful and horrific portrayal of what it means to be human. It really paints the picture of what it was to be a citizen in the island and how interconnected everything seems to be, and how the repercussions can still be felt today. Seriously gripping, entertainment and knowledgeable.  I don't give it five stars, mostly because it takes a long time to get through it. The names, places and  dates are very well laid out but I had to stop multiple times to  go back and check some of the notes and resources and so it took me a long time to read and process and sometimes even then I would get confused a bit, which totally makes sense because it's a complex story and also I get the stylistic choice of using an Irish accent for the audiobook but that def did not help me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and War

ketsy95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual violence

mysterymom40's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

suestarr07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Medical trauma

kefink's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War

thereadingzombie's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and War