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fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Chronic illness, and Rape
alisonvh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Animal death, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty
avareadsoccasionally's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Rape
ertrunnell's review against another edition
4.75
Moderate: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, and Rape
nualasiobhan333's review
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
asourceoffiction's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
At times the story is unbearably anticlimactic; a character will have a huge dramatic journey which sort of fizzles, and then they'll all but disappear from the story for several chapters. There is also so much rampant misogyny and injustice in the way Marianne is treated by her family (and much as it pained me to admit, in the way she begins to treat herself), that I found so little to redeem or forgive in this family. Then by the time these people would come back into the story I had no sympathy or patience left, so I'd be skimming pages because I was bored of all the unnecessary exposition.
Where I really struggled was in how little redemption or justice there was. It may have ended positively in relation to the event that pulls the family apart, but there's no confronting the horrible victim-blaming or the complete refusal to acknowledge the problem or support Marianne when she needed it. And no matter how the characters felt towards each other at the end, I just couldn't forgive any of them and didn't particularly want to.
Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism
Minor: Racial slurs
dunningsk's review
- 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? Yes
3.75
The actual plot was fine and sometimes the characters’ actions were so frustrating it made me lose sympathy for them. Marianne is probably a character in 1,000 other things JCO has written and she’s not any more interesting in this book.
I love a family saga and that’s exactly what I got with this. By the time I was toward the end of the book, I was pining for those golden early days when the Mulvaneys were happy together on their farm. I certainly teared up at the end and the epilogue gave a great sense of closure.
If you like this type of book (slower paced family drama) then I would recommend. If you like JCO’s short stories I would also probably recommend, the tone is pretty similar to a lot of her other stuff. If you are looking for something very plot-driven with perfectly agreeable characters, then no. This book was challenging in that sense but the ending made it worthwhile.
Moderate: Rape, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, and Abandonment
laura_n_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Rape
srhslv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Gun violence