Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

8 reviews

persephonefoxx's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Classism

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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. 

---

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

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

---

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

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

---

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!)

---

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

---

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