Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

22 reviews

razzberry_pi's review against another edition

took a really sharp anti-men turn that seemed kinda rad-fem ish and i had to put the book down

also there was no real mention of the Indigenous peoples who were colonized which was weird and offputting as a rlly nature centered magical realism book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual violence

fieldsofasphodel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty

silvae's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Confinement, Violence, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse

sorin_books27's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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: Violence and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse

mediocremasen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

2.5

Great premise, interesting characters, fun setting/world, boring execution.
I had so much hope for this book and it just fell flat. I was so bored for the first half of the book, maybe more.
It felt like stuff was always happening but none of it really matters. It felt like the entire first half was setting the stage for the book instead of actually being the story.
The characters were also a bit inconsistent and I think if she had committed to making them a bit more sinister like some of their actions showed, it would have been very compelling.
Shifts in the story and in the characters were very abrupt. There wasn't a lot of transition from point A to point B on several different things, it was just suddenly it changed with no real build up of any kind so it didn't really feel satisfying either.
Not a bad book, just a lot of lost potential.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Grief, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Confinement, and Alcohol

Minor: Blood

jjames_mal's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This YA horror follows Della, a witch whose mother has transformed into a monster in a magical woods, and Natasha, an angry girl whose sister has gone missing in the same woods.

I have to admit that Erica Waters is becoming my favourite author. I loved how real and raw the characters of Della and Natasha felt. Much like Ghost Wood Song, the magic system in this book is so detailed and unique, and I absolutely loved it. Adding this book to the list of books that almost made me cry and definitely left me very emotional. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Racism, Confinement, Stalking, Classism, and Domestic abuse

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

zghutcheson01's review

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I really wanted to like this book. The thing is the plot and atmosphere were so good and interesting but the writing just wasn't at all good enough. Waters tends to tell, not show, and her references to violence against women in the real world and calls to action were far too manufactured to have the intended impact. These problems were also present in Ghost Wood Song but I had hoped it would've improved since her first novel. I really do think the plot and characters were compelling and I love her use of Southern folksongs as a plot device.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Grief, Violence, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Sexual harassment

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

pan_to_ffel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Racism, Alcoholism, Rape, Trafficking, Animal death, Classism, and Gun violence