Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

101 reviews

jbenj's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy

amandacook417's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Racism, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Incest, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

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

peregrina2023's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Racism, Blood, Medical content, and Colonisation

Minor: 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

vlawsreads's review

emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

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

sydneylmeyer7's review

dark inspiring tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death

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

lauren_crutchfield's review

adventurous emotional inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Incest, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, and War