Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

15 reviews

likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

A beautifully haunting story about female rage, The River Has Teeth has so much to offer: witches, monsters, sapphic romance, family trauma, mystery, and more.
The writing style, plot, and characters were all easy to become immersed in. I cannot say enough positive things about this book. There are very little things that I wish the author did better and I was pretty much hooked from the moment I read the dedication. 
This one is for us who have been made prey. The River Has Teeth. And so do we.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, and Child death

Moderate: Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Drug use

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

collinsd's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

Moderate: Violence, Murder, Grief, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Emotional abuse and Drug abuse

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed listening to this. I really liked Della's voice actor! The story was engaging, interesting, and felt new. It wasn't always easy to get back into after taking a pause, but I never actually regretted it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

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

kitausu's review against another edition

Dnf at 20% 

I really wanted to like this, but I just was not having a good time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction