Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

38 reviews

ashleereadsbooks692's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual assault, Medical content, Death, Cursing, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Sexual content, and Miscarriage

rkibler24's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gaslighting and Child death

Minor: Miscarriage, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ashylibrarian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

A strong historical fiction that tells the lost story of Martha Ballard, a midwife who delivered over 1,000 babies in her small town. 

Maybe a more in-depth review to come?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Child death, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War and Fire/Fire injury

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

4.25

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Medical content, Blood, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Child death, Murder, Colonisation, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion and War

katiejohns's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Medical content, Misogyny, Death, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Incest

dpou001's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Rape, Murder, and Medical trauma

nimeneth's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-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? Yes

4.0

I very much appreciated this tale of Martha Ballard and what was likely the way of things in late 18th century Maine. Interesting look at how the legal system looked, and also the beginning of the transition from trusting the midwives to trusting doctors to deliver babies even if it's only touched upon briefly in the book. As it's fiction, I appreciate the fact that most of the women presented are strong and independent in their own way, but I do have to take that with a grain of salt because it was probably very unusual during that time-frame for a woman to be the one to piece together a murder mystery...

Still, really enjoyed the plot overall and I was a little surprised by the culprit of the murder, Lawhon crafted that part of the tale very well and it's not outlandish within the scope of the story. Glad my book club picked this one and I was able to get my hands on a copy to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment

theelizabethjoy's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

Very fun murder-mystery inspired by real life midwife Martha Ballard in the late 1700s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

kgc8's review

challenging informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

While a little slow to start, I loved the historical detail. Written in first-person POV, there was a lot of exposition in the first third of the book as Martha explains how things work in colonial times. But once we got further into the case Rebecca Foster brought against Joseph North for rape, along with more rich details of Martha's daily life, things really picked up.  It was fascinating to read daily accounts of a woman's activities, back when most women did not leave a historical footprint (except to be documented as wives/daughters). Martha Ballard's real diary was very sparse and not introspective, but the author does a good job of filling in the gaps and imagining her life and community.

Though the book uses a murder to grab your attention, I honestly found the legal case more interesting because of how nascent the U.S. legal system was at the time (and I'm not even a lawyer!). The author's note at the end (don't read until you're done because there are spoilers) tells you you have to throw out all your preconceived notions about due process and the law before reading because it's so vastly different and primitive. Colonel Joseph North, despite not having studied law, was the judge in the area given his rank and deeds during the War. Not only that, he was able to preside over the case locally and didn't recuse himself in spite of the conflict of interest! (Don't worry, he gets scolded for that by the regional court).

If you enjoy history and immersing yourself in a different period, check out this book. I took off a star  because I think the author dumbed a few things down for "modern" readers in her exposition and I loved the idea of Martha Ballard's story being told more than the author's writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pregnancy and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Violence, Blood, and Death

20sidedbi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Grief, Ableism, Sexual violence, and Child death