Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

9 reviews

megannriley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Murder, and Infidelity

dkamada's review against another edition

hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Martha reminds me of Claire from the Outlander series

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Pregnancy, Death, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Murder, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Medical content, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Child death, Misogyny, and Rape

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

4.5

In Maine, 1789, Martha Ballard, a midwife, is called to examine a dead man who was found in the frozen river. Martha immediately recognizes him as one of the men accused of raping a local woman. She's certain the two crimes are connected.

This an incredibly intriguing and thought provoking story. The author blends fact and fiction to bring this historical fiction to life. This is a heartbreaking story, and caution should be given as there is much discussion of rape. 

Maine acts as its own character in this book, with its difficult winters and beautiful landscape as a backdrop. I loved the vivid descriptions of the landscape throughout the story. 

During a time when women had no rights or freedoms, Martha was an outspoken advocate for her patients. She's a strong, empathetic, and courageous woman who goes to extreme lengths to protect and care for the women in her community. 

This book does a really great job at exploring the role and treatment of women at this time. Martha lived in a time when women were seen as less than. You could be charged for having a baby out of wedlock, but of course there were no repercussions for the man. Martha fought for justice even when all odds are against her. Even as a midwife, she was looked down upon by the male doctors. 

The murder mystery element within the story was very compelling.

We were given some clues that pointed to Sam as the murderer earlier on. So I had an idea that it may have been him, but I couldn't figure out his motivation. That came as a surprise.

 

I'm really happy that North got what he was due.

I actually burst out laughing when Martha cut off his *appendage*. As she said, he can't hurt any women now.

I felt as though the story could have been a little shorter, there were some scenes that didn't really add to the book. Also, there are a lot of characters who I lost track of and had to go back and figure out how they fit in the story.

The Frozen River was inspired by Martha Ballard (February 9, 1735 – June 9, 1812), a midwife who delivered hundreds of babies and never once lost a mother during birth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Abandonment, Infidelity, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

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

krheath's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, and Grief

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment

jazzsonnet's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Child death

Moderate: Infidelity, Cursing, Ableism, Sexism, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child death, Gaslighting, and Death

Minor: Incest, Alcohol, and Abortion

torturedreadersdept's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Death, Miscarriage, Murder, Racism, Child death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Bullying, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual assault, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexism

Minor: Sexual content, Grief, Excrement, Infidelity, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Abortion, Confinement, Cursing, and War

soobooksalot's review

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Frozen River has gone straight to my list of most memorable reads.
 I don't read a ton of historical fiction, but the ones I do inevitably leave an impression.
 Author Ariel Lawhon describes her novel as "biographical fiction" - midwife and healer Martha Ballard and other residents of Halowell, Maine in the late 1700s are based on actual people and events.
 Despite the time difference from then to present, so many of society's harshest issues are unchanged.
 The Frozen River isn't always an easy read, but I absolutely recommend it.
 ⚠️ TW: rape, pregnancy and childbirth, infant and child death, murder, capital punishment.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Death, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, and Child death

smatz10's review

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

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

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