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minamouse's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Grief and Confinement
Minor: Suicide and Cancer
nreyno's review
- 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? No
4.5
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide, Cancer, and Confinement
kmaffett's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Death and Suicide
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Cancer
porshainielsen's review
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Cancer
m_a_j's review
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, and Cancer
Minor: Blood, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
milanaradic's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Suicide, and Cancer
rainbopagn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Confinement, Cancer, Police brutality, and Terminal illness
amyford's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Cancer, Dementia, and Suicidal thoughts
homosexualstudying's review
4.75
almost stopped reading because it got a bit too dark for myself, but i’m so glad i continued.
Graphic: Death and Suicide
Moderate: Medical content, Trafficking, and Cancer
nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The unnamed protagonist is the youngest of 40 women in a cage. None of them remembers how they got there, and while most of them have some recollection of their life before, she was only a child when she was taken and has no memory if anything before the cage
One day, an alarm goes off and their captors flee
The door to the cage is ajar
The child and her companions must then navigate the surface world, which none of them recognize, and build amongst themselves a small society of women
They find other cages, but no survivors
The world Harpman creates is bleak, but it's fascinating to view it through the protagonist's eyes. She has a lot to say about what it's like to exist in a female body, but she (who has never known men) has no conception of gender beyond the limited view of the 39 women she was imprisoned with
She knows nothing of love, either familial or romantic, except what she sees in glimpses
It's important to note that the book was written in the 90s, and the conversations about gender identity that predominated then we're not as nuanced as they are today. Still, I find Harpman's exploration to be both thoughtful and thought provoking
Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, near my mom's hometown, in 1929 to a Jewish family that fled to Casablanca during WWII
Knowing the personal impact of the Holocaust on Harpman and her family makes the dystopian vision she constructed hit even harder
It wasn't always a pleasant book to read, but it will stick with me forever
Graphic: Grief, Cancer, Death, and Confinement
Minor: Fatphobia