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4.43 AVERAGE
4.43 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
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:
Yes
I really loved it. This is such a wonderful, atmospheric story, with characters who are likeable even when they are doing some very bad things :P
I loved following the story of these people; it's epic, no doubt about it. There is horror, there is quite a lot of family drama, and there are petty petty behaviours but also acts of pure love. And what I enjoyed the most is that the main conflicts are between strong female characters. None of them is cartoonish or stereotypical, all of them are interesting, riveting to be honest.
And the narration! The narration is wonderful!
I hadn't read anything by McDowell before this, but now? I'll be hunting his books!
I loved following the story of these people; it's epic, no doubt about it. There is horror, there is quite a lot of family drama, and there are petty petty behaviours but also acts of pure love. And what I enjoyed the most is that the main conflicts are between strong female characters. None of them is cartoonish or stereotypical, all of them are interesting, riveting to be honest.
And the narration! The narration is wonderful!
I hadn't read anything by McDowell before this, but now? I'll be hunting his books!
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've wanted to check out Blackwater since reading Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix, and finally got around to it. How to describe this collection? It's like John Jakes meets Swamp Thing. Is that right? Does that work? I don't know, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting, and I loved every minute of it. Thought it was featured in a book about horror novels, I wouldn't put this in that genre; there were brief instances of creepiness and gore, but not enough to justify a horror label. The characters, for the most part, were complex and multi-dimensional. The author's writing caused the different settings (the river, the swamp, the town, the different characters' houses, etc.) to seem like characters in and of themselves. I mourn the fact that the author didn't create a larger body of work prior to passing in 1999, but I intend to give the rest of his works a look as soon as possible.
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After 800 pages of I don’t know what, I now have to give a review and not sure how to explain it exactly. Blackwater was actually a serial novel coming out one part at a time. I just read the entire compilation since this came out in 1982 I believe. It’s a family saga, written like southern gothic with elements of horror thrown in here and there.
I’m giving this a 3 star rating not because it’s bad, it’s actually just a fine read if you have the time or patience for it. The story spans over 50 years focusing on a family in a town called Perdido, Alabama. All the family’s quibbles, ups and downs, joyful times and tragedy, births and deaths. We go through the depression era, the wars, the finically lean times and then the wealth. The thing that is different about his family, is that the eventual matriarch is a fish person from the river next to the town.
I like Elinor. She’s mysterious, smart, interesting, but I never did “get” her. A lot of that is i went through 800 pages and never got my answers about who she is, where did she come from exactly, why is she human, what is her lore. The author decided to just keep that a mystery and that left me ultimately unsatisfied. The author however did a great job integrating difficult topics such as racism, misogyny, rape and homosexuality very well into the story and considering this was 1982, I was very impressed.
So it’s a mix bag for sure, both my feelings and the story.
I’m giving this a 3 star rating not because it’s bad, it’s actually just a fine read if you have the time or patience for it. The story spans over 50 years focusing on a family in a town called Perdido, Alabama. All the family’s quibbles, ups and downs, joyful times and tragedy, births and deaths. We go through the depression era, the wars, the finically lean times and then the wealth. The thing that is different about his family, is that the eventual matriarch is a fish person from the river next to the town.
I like Elinor. She’s mysterious, smart, interesting, but I never did “get” her. A lot of that is i went through 800 pages and never got my answers about who she is, where did she come from exactly, why is she human, what is her lore. The author decided to just keep that a mystery and that left me ultimately unsatisfied. The author however did a great job integrating difficult topics such as racism, misogyny, rape and homosexuality very well into the story and considering this was 1982, I was very impressed.
So it’s a mix bag for sure, both my feelings and the story.
It's all family saga. Definitely not my thing. The one horror element is just a bit supernatural. It would be the same if it wasn't there. Nice written and told. it's just not my thing.