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skylarkblue1's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
"Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth." is an insane claim lmao. There's not an ounce of magic in the book and the only folklores and myths are basically just stories told.
While I loved the premise, the actual story fell quite short on expectations. Not only was it not fantasy as described above, the "mystery" had a very predictable path and the ending was just a bit shallow. Family trees, who did what, etc was all "hinted" at earlier in the story with the subtly of a brick through a window. Coincidences don't really exist, so if something lines up that's likely the answer.
The book feels like it's written like a river, a lot of little threads at the start slowly weaving into the larger plot and by the end it's all entwined. I thought it'd be akin to a river with it's pacing as well, start slow and gain speed, but while it did pick up a bit it did stay quite slow throughout.
There are.... a *lot* of characters. I really quite struggled to work out who was who, and especially who's POV each chapter was on (since theres a narrator throughout it gives less of a distinct voice to each chapter) and once people started having more than 1 name it just got even more confusing. Trying to work out who's child was who (there's far too many missing girls the same age in such a small area what the fuck lmao) and all that stuff was far too confusing.
I think, like Babel, I would have liked this a lot better from another author. Or maybe if it wasn't marketed as fantasy/magical realism.
Graphic: Racism, Child death, Grief, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Stalking, Rape, and Domestic abuse
No miscarrages, but a lot of mentions and descriptions of trauma around birth, death of mothers during birth and similar. Additionally there's a lot of racist and ableist slurs used throughout - and even a whole page explaining one particular slur used against people who have Down's Syndrome.kcmg710'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? It's complicated
5.0
I’ve fallen in love with the characters and can’t imagine continuing life without them. I’m actually grieving finishing this book.
The writing was so beautiful. I loved every minute of this book.
I’ll admit it was abit tricky keeping up with everybody’s different stories because of the multiple POVS? (I think that’s the right term) however these are my favourite type of books, I love piecing it all together. It kinda reminds me of the starless sea (which I also loved) but if you found yourself not enjoying them maybe this book isn’t for you.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death
Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, Child death, Physical abuse, Animal death, Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism and Sexism
cookiecat73's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Medical content, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Child abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Murder, Suicide, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Child death, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse
cutepatzie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Deadnaming, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
yaizacanopoli's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Child death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Sexism, Animal death, Misogyny, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
cereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Suicide, Ableism, and Misogyny