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kimveach'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? Yes
3.75
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
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.gcrkl'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? No
4.5
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
lmcoleman2's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Minor: Kidnapping, Rape, Murder, Physical abuse, and Stalking
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
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
booksandmo's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Stalking
sirissacgluten's review
- 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
Graphic: Child death and Kidnapping
Moderate: Rape, Stalking, Medical content, Racism, Death, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Grief
Minor: Racial slurs and Fire/Fire injury