Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

13 reviews

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.75

This meandering story of people along the Thames was interesting but slow.  I liked the book, but not as much as the author's, "The Thirteenth Tale."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Sexual assault, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Child death, Grief, Terminal illness, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Medical content

thepurplepixel's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death of parent, Rape, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Racism and Sexual content

matcha_cat's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Medical content, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual content, and Rape

gcrkl's review

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Racial slurs, Suicide, Grief, Medical content, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Animal death, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Death of parent

kato_dg's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Minor: Animal death, Medical content, and Blood

ohyeah_karyn's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Rape

kcmg710's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• 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

The best word I can think of to describe this book is magical, it’s literally on the cover!

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

yaizacanopoli's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

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

theseasoul's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

|| 5 ⭐️ ||

It’s impossible to write a review that measures up to the immense beauty of this book. I’ll try, but you should probably just go read it for yourself instead of reading my review.

This story revolves around a little girl being drawn out of a river, supposedly having drowned. I can’t really say much else about the storyline without spoiling it, because the twists and turns start pretty much right away. The element of mystery kept me hooked… yet it unfolded so gently and carefully that I frequently forgot the magnitude of what was at stake. There are a lot of characters, all with different stories, which worked perfectly for this book even though I got lost and had to backtrack a couple times.

I don’t think I’ve ever loved a writing style as much as I loved Setterfield’s in this book. She painted a world so vibrant and picturesque that I could fully step into it and never wanted to step out. Countless times I had to pause and appreciate another exquisite metaphor. I could’ve gone overboard with a highlighter. When I did finally reach the end of the final page, I’m pretty sure I didn’t breathe for a full minute, worried that if I did, the magic would vanish. I’m so sad this book had to end.

Most of all I loved how water was so central to the story, and how so many themes were drawn back to that.

Another absolute favourite of the year. Maybe one of my favourite covers of the year too.

|| Content warnings ||

Somewhat graphic descriptions of childbirth & death in childbirth. A few sexual references throughout and a short sex scene near the end. Brief mention of homosexual relationship. Some aspects of the book are a bit eerie and deal with the spirit world (kind of? It’s hard to explain).

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content