Reviews with content warning for Blood - Gone to See the River Man

Literally felt so gross after reading that I took a shower and made some tea. I don’t mind disturbing content if it feels like there’s a real story or a fucking purpose for it beyond shock value.

Content Warnings

horrorhayleigh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

When I was told this would ruin my day I didn’t believe it but this did in fact ruin my entire day

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chloseencounter's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This book reminded me why I need to stop taking recs from booktok. Every other book video I see told me that this is the most disturbing book so and so has ever read, so morbid curiosity got the best of me. The description was very interesting to me so I was really hoping for this novel to be everything I was looking for and more but unfortunately it just…wasn’t. Partly it was my own fault because I went in knowing very little about this book, I was expecting the “extreme horror” aspect to be a lot more visceral violence and not just generally upsetting. So you can imagine that I was a little caught off guard by some of the content.

What I did enjoy about this book was the second half, I really liked the more folk horror aspects of this story. That bit was more gripping to me than just learning about how much the MC sucks. The latter half of this novel is the only reason I’d rate it a 2.0 at all.

I was also quite put off by the way the two sisters where written. It felt very much like the sexually promiscuous sister is horrible and evil and the “innocent” and infantilized sister is pure and a perfect angel. It was a very unrealistic portrayal of women in general and kind of a weird vibe even if the author didn’t mean it that way.

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abutchstargazer's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

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bkmason's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kermitdafrog's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.5

I can see what the author was going for in many aspects, but Gone To See The River Man honestly fell quite flat for me. The pacing of this book leaves a lot to be desired. I feel the "woods" section of the book went on for entirely too long, with a few genuinely interesting sections once they're in the river. I really wish more of the book had been in the vein of those few scenes. So much of this book is just them walking through the woods, then some decently implemented flashback chapters, then right at the end a few pages with the river man and a few pages after.

My main issues with this book go into heavy spoiler territory so here goes:

Her abuse of her brother to juxtapose her with Edmund was interesting, but the writing felt more like it was there to put it in the extreme category, not actually reflect on how their crimes and opinions on them connect them to eachother. There are ways to write unlikable main characters who do horrific things without remorse and have them be interesting, but she just isn't gripping enough. Her ableism is impossible to ignore (especially when you realize its directly her fault) and her weird jealousy just makes her annoying to read. It could have been an interesting commentary on abuse and how that affects a family, but that requires a level of tact and depth this novel ultimately lacks.

There is also some troubling ideas of love in here that I'm having a hard time believing is the character's opinion and not just the author's. Her vehemently denying any interest in Edmund felt genuine up to the point she suddenly heel turns towards the end, states she's head over heels for him and... means she'd obey him blindly? To the poijt of willingly being murdered? Having this be the influence of the river man or even just have this be a shift over time would be far preferable to how it was actually done.

Spoiler free Tldr: some interesting ideas thrown in around a terrible main character, heavy pacing issues, and heavy ideological issues not actually expanded upon enough to be seen as useful or insightful.

Content Warnings

marc3lin3's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

horrifying.
i had to take SO many breaks throughout this book.

the fact that lori feels no remorse and convinced herself shes the victim repulses me. abby didnt deserve to die (twice, no less). im not saying she deserved to die by edmund, but she deserved some type of death. killed her sister twice, had a victim complex, extreme obsession with killers, groomed/coerced/and raped her younger brother. not to mention shes continuously selfish and thinks edmund wont ~~kill her~~ treat her like shit.

Content Warnings

celleuloid's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

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