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kathleendayle's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Grief, Abandonment, and Rape
kimveach's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Bullying, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Sexual assault, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Stalking, Alcohol, Blood, Chronic illness, Child death, Grief, Terminal illness, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Medical content
thepurplepixel's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Death, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death of parent, Rape, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
matcha_cat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Minor: Medical content, Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Racism, Sexual content, and Rape
gcrkl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Racial slurs, Suicide, Grief, Medical content, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Animal death, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Death of parent
kato_dg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness
Minor: Animal death, Medical content, and Blood
eleanora's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Minor: Suicide, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Sexual harassment
ohyeah_karyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Grief, Incest, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Rape
kcmg710's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I’ve fallen in love with the characters and can’t imagine continuing life without them. I’m actually grieving finishing this book.
The writing was so beautiful. I loved every minute of this book.
I’ll admit it was abit tricky keeping up with everybody’s different stories because of the multiple POVS? (I think that’s the right term) however these are my favourite type of books, I love piecing it all together. It kinda reminds me of the starless sea (which I also loved) but if you found yourself not enjoying them maybe this book isn’t for you.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Death
Moderate: Rape, Animal cruelty, Child death, Physical abuse, Animal death, Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism and Sexism
jodar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
The setting is the 19th century, post-Darwin’s publications. The local pub fulfils today’s role of social media – spreading information and rumour, eliciting speculation and stories that attempt to understand and entertain. There are ordinary people who focus on folk-story, but there are the more educated as well, who grapple with social and natural/medical challenges from the point of view of newer knowledge and concepts. Sometimes the latter, though, seem to me to edge into 21st-century sensibilities, bordering anachronism. All the same, characters are portrayed in an engaging way, and their various conflicted emotions develop realistically.
Least successful to me was the nebulous, mystical, Charon-like character of Quietly, saving or taking those imperilled by the river. A metaphor I think for humans’ lack of complete control over nature and its powers, but a metaphor that sits uneasily with the tenor of the novel as a whole.
The resolutions at the end of the novel are a bit clichéd, though I feel that that is probably fine for a novel set in Victorian England!
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Toxic relationship