Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

12 reviews

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

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

waqas's review

dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Pregnancy

Minor: Gore and Blood

starbreeze9's review

challenging informative tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

mayawildgoose's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

ashleereadsbooks692's review

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

mysterymom40's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gore, Miscarriage, Sexism, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual content and Classism

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

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

kimveach's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

This year is getting off to a great start, as this is another five-star read!  This book had so many intriguing elements of life in 1790s Maine.  The story of the midwife, her family, her community, the early justice system, and the murder mystery that opens the book makes for a compelling book— I loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism