Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

17 reviews

smatz10's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5 ⭐️ I absolutely loved this book! Martha was the baddest biotch FMC and I loved her. She took no one’s BS and I feel like for that time period, that was unheard of from a woman. I felt like the characters were so complex and the story was so streamlined. I also appreciated how when certain characters names were brought up again, it usually included some back story from a previous chapters to kind of “remind” you who they were seeing as that there were a LOT of characters in this book. The story was fantastic and I appreciated reading something I normally don’t usually read about.

Please check trigger warnings on this book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ashleyj_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Author's Craft is some of the best I've seen in a LONG time. Great character development and relationships!! Plot and unfolding of events is all clever, beautiful, and very well-timed.
A couple small minor character plot holes I wish had been given closure.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse and Sexual content

librarianeno's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

5.0

This was a fun book for me as it's set in an area I'm very familiar with. Before this book was published, I hadn't heard of Martha Ballard, but now I want to learn more about her and her life. She seemed like a strong, brave, independent woman during a time when all three of those traits were looked down on by society.

The story follows a year of Martha Ballard's life as both a midwife and as a witness to a rape victim. Large parts of the story take place in court. Either in the tavern court which seemed like the equivalent to a district court, or in the county court. Parts of this story were very heavy. But it's very easy to get attached to the characters and want things to go well for them. And it's also very easy to hate the "bad guy" in this story as well. He is not a likable person.

I would classify this book as historical fiction/mystery/suspense. I got this book from the library at first because when I saw it on Book of the Month, it had a warning for graphic rape and discussion of death. I would say that both of those things are prevalent within the story, so if they are triggers, you might want to reconsider. I was able to get through it without having to fast-forward (listened to it on audio). I'm planning on purchasing to add to my collection

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Murder

cherylg123's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Rape, and Murder

mels_reading_log's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

Martha Ballard is a badass midwife from the late 1700’s living in the newly settled USA. I am obsessed with her and how strong and opinionated she was for that time period, she was a smart and talented woman and when she spoke people listened. She also has such a loving husband and amazing kids. I didn’t know until I got to the end that she was a real person and this book was based loosely on the actual journals that she kept. I love a book about a strong matriarch.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: War

dabutkus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

Martha Ballard is a midwife in Hook, on the edges of the Kennebec River in Maine. When a dead man is pulled from the river, Martha is called to examine the body, the same man that is accused of raping a local woman. A local physician is also called to examine the body and he has a different conclusion to death as an accident rather than the murder Martha believes. Martha is then forced to investigate the death on her own. At the center of it all is Martha’s journal that she faithfully writes in every single day, about every birth and death, crime and disturbance that occurs within the close-knit town. How does Martha navigate the turbulent times that are coming all while trying to figure out where her loyalties lie?

This book was a wild and very interesting ride. I absolutely loved it and loved reading about the time period, just after the American Revolution. I got really excited to see an off page appearance by one of my favorites, Paul Revere. This is the best of historical fiction - little bit of suspense, romance, and history all encased in a captivating story that pulls you in from page one. Reading about Martha and Ephraim’s family and story made me giggle, cry and awe at several parts. The last 100 pages are a wild ride - gear up for it then come scream with me about them. After you read, make sure you read the Author’s Notes, as Ariel goes into depth, like all of her books, to tell you what’s real and what she took author liberties with. 

Favorite quotes - “I am in the business of mortality. Its beginning and its end.” And “Threw the whole thing in the fire, box and all, then sat in her chair and cried.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

mtnest's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and War