Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

14 reviews

erlynchin's review

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Gaslighting

wrenhawk's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Alcohol, and Pandemic/Epidemic

cgoddard95's review

emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hifrench's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully written. Extremely intense at certain parts. An engaging murder mystery with a strong female main character. 

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Content Warnings

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

madisonrose1519's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Set a reminder in your phone to start this book over Thanksgiving weekend. If you’re looking for something that has cozy vibes and has a beautiful, vividly descriptive winter setting, this book is for you!!! That is, if you don’t mind also reading extremely detailed accounts of murder and rape…

The storyline kept me wanting more, yet the charm made me want it to never end. I was sucked into the story so much so that I thought about reading it while I was at work! But I put off finishing it because I was so enjoying being immersed in a Hallowell winter!

I will say that the clues dropped throughout the novel were fairly obvious and didn’t leave me guessing, which was a bit of a bummer. There were no shocking twists for me at the end. And one tiny but obvious part of the storyline didn’t get resolved, which is really bugging me. Otherwise, this may have been a 4.5 rather than 4 star-read for me. 

I absolutely adore how Lawhon wrote the heroine Martha Ballard’s personality. Loving Martha is what made me want to keep my nose in this book forever. A brilliant, thoughtful, talented midwife, mother, wife, homemaker, healer, feminist, WOMAN—it’s been a long time since I’ve read a character I wished I could meet in real life. If you want to read a character you can respect in a novel that will put you in the “F*** the patriarchy!” kind of mood, this inspiring tale will get you there! And for it to be inspired by a real person?! Oh my goodness.  What a treat to know Martha Ballard really existed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Racism, Slavery, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

key86's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Child death

jillianlottie26's review

adventurous emotional informative 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? No

5.0

When I first started this book I wasn't aware it was Historical Fiction. I think I was two chapters in when I learned that Martha Ballard was a real woman. By the end, I was in tears at how truly remarkable and astonishing Mistress Ballard was. This book was good but what made it great was Martha. I'm definitely interested in reading her actual diary now and the Ulrich biography. I finished this book in tears and while thinking "women are incredible".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

shellmoffat89's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow! Historical fiction as it’s finest! One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The story is told beautifully and I appreciate all the research the other did when they wrote the story. I thought about this book during the day because the characters stuck with me. One of the best books of the year! Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Blood, and Abortion

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

celery's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic