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grvhppr's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Drug use, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, Blood, Body horror, and Torture
Minor: Slavery
danielles_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A body is like outer space: The more you actively think about it, the smaller you feel, the more detached you feel from the business of living.
Lena’s grandma used to say the difference between us and them is they try as hard as possible to never think about us, and we have to think about them all the time.
I love this book, way more than I expected to. It packs such a punch in its commentary on racism, sexism, poverty, lack of healthcare access, capitalism, the corruption of the United States government and its history of unethical human experimentation, the dehumanization of marginalized peoples, etc… Seriously, this book has so many layers but if never felt overwhelming or forced since it just came naturally with the story Giddings was telling.
I really love Lena. She truly felt like a real person. Her love for her mother and how it was affected by her mother’s chronic illness was really powerful. I also liked seeing how her mother and grandmother compared in their views of the world and how they raised Lena. I especially liked Lena’s reflections on trying to come across as cute and kind and harmless as possible, both because of her experience as a Black woman, but also because of a lifetime spent caring for her ill mom. I was also glad to see the various relationships Lena had both before and after Lakewood, and it was great to see such a close female friendship with her and Tanya, and how their dynamic was affected by their different economic classes as well as the situation Lena was in. I also loved her sense of humor, and Giddings had the perfect timing of jokes vs tense situations vs deep reflections on society.
The atmosphere was SO GOOD. It was tense and eerie and it felt like just waiting for the pin to drop.
And wow, the ENDING! Some might consider this a spoiler, but others like to be warned: the ending is vague and doesn’t really explain anything. But honestly, I think it’s perfect. It also made the eerie atmosphere even more so, because we never know
Do you think people really believe another person’s pain exists?
And the last line was stunning:
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Racism
mlovesbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Death of parent, Body horror, Gore, Racism, and Blood
anthrac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood
hngisreading's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
Graphic: Medical content, Cancer, Gun violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Racism
bitterseason's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dementia, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Stalking, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Police brutality, and Sexual assault
helhas3letters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
My main gripe, however, is that I felt the ending was rushed and left too open-ended. I wanted more concrete answers and explanations as to why half the events in the book occurred. I understand that a lot of modern fiction leaves things up to interpretation for the reader, but in this case it felt less 'up to interpretation' and more 'couldn't be bothered thinking of specific reasons why specific things happened'.
The ending was also unfortunately semi-spoiled for me by a way too on-the-nose and frankly reductive pull quote on the cover of the book. It was from Essence and read:
Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death of parent, Medical content, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Cancer, Gore, Death, Colonisation, Torture, Racism, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Stalking, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts
mandi_lea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Grief, Racism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Violence, Torture, Blood, Medical content, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, and Gore
savvylit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The truly terrifying thing about this book, though, isn't the body horror or the corporate gaslighting. It's the fact that, though the contents of this book are fictional, they are based on a legacy of horrific white supremacist reality. Consistently throughout U.S. history, people of color have been unwittingly used as guinea pigs for medical experimentation. Giddings interprets historical precedent into a modern, entirely fathomable racist hellscape.
Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, Cancer, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
Minor: Vomit
srhi96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, and Torture
Moderate: Grief, Violence, Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Blood
Minor: Addiction, Vomit, and Excrement