Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Island Queen by Vanessa Riley

3 reviews

tahsintries's review against another edition

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Incest, Rape, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death, Classism, Grief, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Genocide, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Death, Torture, and Mental illness

Minor: Infidelity and Infertility

liaandersson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Child death, Colonisation, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Trafficking

patches's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

One thing I love about reading is that it enables you to live other lives, see the world through the eyes of someone else. This book is such a great example of that.

I think one of the best signs that a historical book is good is if you finish it with a better understanding of the world than when you started it. Before reading this book, I knew nothing about Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, but I'm glad that Riley's book was able to bring her story to life and bring attention to her story. This book follows through all of Dolly's life, and it honestly makes you feel that you've seen and lived alongside her. 

This book is well written and heartbreaking. Dorothy was such a strong and intelligent woman, unfortunately her life was filled with a lot of pain in many forms. She did everything she could to make sure her children and grandchildren could live happier and easier lives than she did. 

I highly recommend this book. I'm not usually the biggest fan of historical books because they are usually very dry and boring, but this book comes alive and tells Dorothy's story in a bright and engaging way. You aren't simply reading history, you're experiencing it through Dolly's eyes. 

Do be aware, this book does contain mentions of sensitive topics such as incest and rape. 

Overall, this book is solidly between 4 and 5 stars. Unfortunately, the copy I read was missing pages (503-518), but even with a portion of the story missing, it was a fantastic book.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, and Slavery

Minor: Infertility and Suicidal thoughts