Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

8 reviews

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

b_lownds127's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

I didn't realize this was YA at first, but once I did I continued because I do often enjoy YA fantasy and this has a really intriguing plot and premise. Where it started to fall apart for me was the over-the-top southern breathiness of the narrator for Della and then the incredibly annoying character of Natasha. The character of Natasha was, like many heroines, driven by vengeance and unwilling to accept any facts that didn't fit into her own perceptions and theories but she was ALSO so easily misslead by red herrings that I as the reader figured out the entire mystery and villain by 50% and just felt as if I was waiting around for the characters to catch up. There were also 3 passages that felt not so much like dialogue but as if they had been lifted, stiff and protesting, from a Wikipedia article on missing and murdered women. Please don't misunderstand me - the author was valiantly trying to talk about important things, but the overall effect did not feel organic within the novel. The romance was a bit too insta-love for me too, though i adored the LGTBQIA+ representation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

eeriekeri's review

challenging dark 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

a scream in anger at men's violence against women

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, and Child death

clovelatte's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Stalking

check those content warnings but also wow this book is powerful. Idk if you have to be a little girl who plays in the woods and makes nasty brews from the forest floor who grows up to be an wrathful feminist to truly appreciate it but if that’s you just go ahead and inhale this book.

corriejn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Witchy, magic-laden young adult mystery fiction. It's hard to say too much about this book without spoilers, but it's a creative and engaging book for the genre.

A few non-spoiler-y notes: the LGBTQIA+ tag is not inappropriate for this book, but I will say that some of the earlier introductions of queer characters felt a bit self-conscious/gratuitous. By that I mean going out of the way to establish queer identities of characters in ways that didn't seem natural as part of conversations in the narrative, and felt more like pointing out those identities to tick a representation box than presenting characters naturally as whoever they were (i.e., them presented matter-of-factly in the ways they went about their lives and relationships). (Same with race; there is a Black character among the supporting roles, but that does not seem to a real/impactful part of the character's identity and life, but mentioned occasionally to remind the reader of the fact.) This is all still well ahead of books that treat all characters as white/cis/het by default, of course, but there are also books (including within YA fiction) that handle diversity better.

Another theme that felt a tad ineptly handled (again, without any major spoilers here) was one of the main character's pasts, as a child who was adopted later in childhood. The descriptions of the character's feelings about/relationship to their biological parents and adoptive family read as a bit trite and simplistic. Representation of a variety of life experiences is great, but again this was not dealt with with the greatest nuance or depth/complexity of characters (indeed, the adoptive family/said character's relationship to them get only the briefest of coverage).

All that being said, I'm still rating this 4.5 because for the genre/intended audience the inclusion of various identities and life experiences is still a plus and may not have been encountered in a lot of other fiction texts, even if they could have been more skillfully addressed. This remains an engaging and creative book (though do check the substantial CWs if any of those are a concern), and a recommended read for late-teen to adult readers. (The positive aspects of the story are more difficult to outline with plot spoilers!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Murder, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Outing, Biphobia, Racism, and Trafficking

patricia0227's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

Everyone should read this book. It's murder mystery meets Apalachian magic. If you have love for the south and this region of the world, you're going to enjoy the setting. Definitely a page turner and the magic was so compelling, had me wanting to know more every second. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Blood, Body horror, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, Child abuse, and Death

emsim's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child abuse

ashleycmms's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Racism