Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

9 reviews

chasingpages1's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Torture, Cancer, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Pregnancy, Death, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Confinement, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Genocide

Minor: Trafficking, Gun violence, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Infertility, Rape, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

stephanieluxton's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.5

This book was a bit of a roller coaster and it makes it so hard to rate. Let's start with what I liked. I went into this book pretty much blind. I didn't read the synopsis and all I knew is that it was about a virus and leans heavily into body horror.

I really enjoyed the first part of the book in which we see the horrors a new virus is inflicting on a normal person and how the world is responding to it. Super interesting concept! I also enjoyed the pacing of the story for the most part - it only dragged in certain areas. I liked the writing itself. I found myself fairly immersed in the first act and also somewhat in the final act.

But there was so much that I didn't like. The characters are all pretty irredeemable with exception to Mareva, maybe. Every single character is so far left wing, politically that I feel like even left wing readers would find them deplorable. I didn't write the book off because of this. Maybe the author wanted us to hate all the characters! Obviously I don't need to fully relate to the characters or after with their views to enjoy a book, but it got super preachy in the second act. White men = bad. Christians = bad. It wasn't subtle at all and was definitely pulling me out of the story. Erin isnt likeable but I could feel empathy for her. Savannah is the absolute worst scum of the earth. Part two was painful to read. Mareva was the best character but I feel like the book ends semi abruptly before we really got to see the consequences of her decisions. 

The other thing that pulled me out of the story was that there was a lot of time spent trying to explain the science of the virus but without really answering most of our bigger questions. The book ends just as it's starting to get interesting again.

Overall I think this book had all the potential but it almost was felt like it was trying to do so many things at once instead of just telling one story well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Torture, Cancer, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Physical abuse, Body horror, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cannibalism, Death, Domestic abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Death of parent and Abortion

kelisabeth's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Alcohol, Cancer, Rape, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Death, Medical content, Trafficking, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence

silentquercus's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Cannibalism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Body horror, Violence, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Pregnancy, Stalking, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Infertility, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug use, Ableism, Genocide, Excrement, Trafficking, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Abortion

sarah984's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

I really liked about the first third of this book - Erin's story has some interpersonal drama, compelling pandemic fiction, and an interesting point of view character. Unfortunately once the POV switches the book just fell apart for me. I get that Savannah is a bad person but she uses such cringy language and a lot of the narrative choices felt a little iffy to me (using the full first and last name of a real child victim of a sex crime, the bizarre scene where a ghost castigates her for killing the only Black woman in the book). While Mareva's story at least felt like it had a point, the King in Yellow stuff felt very silly, the thee/thou dialogue was terrible, and I felt like it just didn't match up to the expectations that Erin's chapters had set for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Cancer, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Body horror, Gore, Pregnancy, Medical content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Colonisation, Death, Self harm, Blood, Confinement, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, and Racism

Minor: Abortion, Ableism, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Police brutality, Trafficking, Genocide, Child death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Excrement

swashbuckling_mathematician's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Basically every trigger warning.  It's a good story but...graphic...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Genocide, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Vomit, Abortion, Self harm, Body horror, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Slavery, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Gore, Sexism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, War, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

It's graphic. Very graphic. Really, if violent imagery gets in your head and bothers you, don't read this book.

madelinequinne's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• 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

3.5

Well that was disgusting…

This book had my stomach churning and my eyes filling with tears at the same time, all whilst making me think how awfully the world deals with pandemics and people who don’t fit into our capitalist ideas of how society should run. There were a lot of metaphors for how chronically ill people are treated, how messed up the government is when it comes to global catastrophes, and honestly that may have been the most sickening thing about this book. 

I definitely need to read something lighthearted after this to recover 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Cursing, and Gore

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Dysphoria, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Just when I thought I’d figured out what was going on, I realized I was wrong, over and over until the end of this book. It was beyond fucked up. Creepy, terrifying, otherworldly, apocalyptic. I won’t forget about this one anytime soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Cannibalism, Child death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

emimli's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I absolutely loved the first section of this book. It was so gross and creative and weird.

Unfortunately though, the other two sections didn’t stack up. The latter 2/3 of the book are a slog to get through, and the story departs sharply from horror into Jeff Vandermeer-esque sci-fi around the halfway point. While I’d typically be cool with that, it just didn’t mesh with the book’s established narrative and atmosphere.

The social/political commentary in here is also pretty lacklustre - it’s somehow too heavy-handed and too underdeveloped at the same time. All of it is stuffed into lengthy info-dumps that veer far away from the actual storyline and mess with the narrative flow (anyone else confused by Erin’s random anti-IUD rant?). I usually love social commentary in my fiction, but the way that it’s incorporated into this book just comes across as preachy and a bit cringe.

Also, an octopus? Really? That was the best you could come up with?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pandemic/Epidemic, Cancer, Cannibalism, Death, Medical content, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Murder, Abortion, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Body horror, Genocide, Suicide, Confinement, Pregnancy, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Gore, and Suicide attempt