Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

16 reviews

pagesinthesnow's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Medical content and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Incest, Infidelity, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, and Abandonment

kris_tea516's review against another edition

inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This was a beautifully written book. I definitely want to read more of Lawhon’s writings. Every time I listened to this book, I couldn’t get over how well written it was. When I wasn’t reading it, I was interested but was wishing I could get to the end. However, I am so glad I stuck with it because it was a wonderful story. Knowing that this was based on a real woman & by much of what was written in her diary and that her female descendants ended up being major changers and glass-ceiling breakers made this story even more monumental. 

Content warnings: there are some fairly graphic descriptions of violent rape, violence, child death, very descriptive scenes of traumatic childbirth,  still birth, medical negligence & violence, “fade to black”/closed door love scenes, child abandonment, murder

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

I’m lucky to have read two incredibly good books back to back, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow plus this fabulous historical mystery about a late 18th C midwife in Maine. The titular frozen river itself is so prominent as to be a character in its own right. Animals, both wild and domestic, are integral. 

As historical fiction, this is really top notch, set on the foundation of extensive research. As a mystery, it’s equally fine. To have both in one volume is a multitude of riches. It feels like a book with the depth and intensity of 600+ pages. (It doesn’t feel like a long book - it’s such a page-turner that it feels relatively short.) The main characters are intricately drawn; the lesser characters are essential to crafting the plot. 

I had thought I wouldn’t be especially interested in a midwife’s story but I was hooked from the very beginning. Be warned that there’s the gore of birth itself, plus the explicit violence of rape and murder. This is also a courtroom drama, dramatic partly because the fledgling justice system is unfamiliar to modern readers. 

I can’t recommend this highly enough. I was riveted. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

jlongo's review

challenging sad slow-paced

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

3.25

Lots of characters and jumping around. I wasn’t sure what path the author was taking me down or why. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

jjha's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

sarahbiegelsen's review

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical content, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Genocide, Infidelity, Slavery, Kidnapping, Abortion, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

himpersonal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This is probably my favorite historical fiction work. Martha is formidable, compassionate, principled, and empowered. She goes head to head with an evil ogre and serial rapist, and she humiliates him over and over again. There was a lot of drama and action and plenty to mourn and plenty to celebrate.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lexcellent's review

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Incest

silverhill's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Incest, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, and Classism

juanat77's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail