Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

8 reviews

abicaro17's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

This beautiful and sad odyssey of one woman's journey as she follows the last migration of the Arctic Turns in a world facing the disastrous effects of climate change and greed is a must read. Franny is a bird lover but, birds are basically extinct due to global warming and the government's lack of concern with hunting and overfishing. She is on a mission to follow the last of the Arctic Terns, a bird that migrates from pole to pole. She joins a ragtag crew on their fishing boat with promises of a catch they have long searched for. As Franny and the crew journey with the birds, the reader journeys through Frannys childhood, her married life, and what led her to hop on a boat and follow the terns. This novel is a beautifully written picture of the risks of global warming framing one of the most gut wrenching side romances i've ever read. Franny is a complicated and fearless free spirit who works to fulfill her dreams at any cost. She's strong, determined, a tad delusional, and a fantastic character. Niall, her husband, is a dreamboat. No spoilers obviously, but that man is a catch and almost every time he spoke I was practically swooning! In addition, all of the side characters are amazingly complex as well! Even Nialls mom, who has like maybe two chapters? From Ennis, the gambling captain to Lèa the French engineer, the entire crew has a complicated backstory, development, and dialogue. Its amazing that this whole book is less than 300 pages. It packs a punch! I wish I could read this again for the first time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Terminal illness, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Vomit, Body horror, and Violence

wallanderem's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal death

libbyajt's review

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Animal cruelty

genny's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I read the ebook immediately after finishing the audiobook because I suspected I would appreciate it more the second time around, and I was correct. This is a perfect little gem, so much emotion packed into a short novel! I kept getting choked up at the simplest, quietest moments. While climate change is a big part of the story, it isn't really the focus as it serves more as a parallel to Franny's personal journey...I've seen reviews that were disappointed because of that, so take that into account when deciding whether to read this. I personally loved all of it: her nomadic nature warring with her desire to grow roots, her relationship with her husband who always saw right to the heart of her, and their hopes for a dying world.

I'm so happy that it ended on a hopeful note! This could easily have gone the other way, but oh my god did I desperately need that scene of Franny & Ennis celebrating the sight of the animals.

McConaghy works magic with her words. I'm so thankful I took a chance on this. I look forward to reading Once There Were Wolves, but I need breathing space first. 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Car accident

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Murder

madelynfrank's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Unreliable narrator, twists. Gone-girl era vibes made it a page turner although ultimately none of the many twists were too shocking. The near future mass extinction setting was ominous. Very atmospheric and adventurous. Interesting and diverse characters attempted, many of the secondary characters were left disappointingly underdeveloped. Some of the prose was really wonderful. Read tag warnings cuz omigod. Also the dog dies. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Animal death, Car accident, Cursing, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

mandib's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Vomit, Death of parent, Genocide, Suicide, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Confinement and Animal death

Minor: Suicide attempt

nehashtyle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Death, Abandonment, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death of parent, Vomit, Grief, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

bakerreads's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Tragic, haunting, dark, and beautiful.
This story is set in the near future, where most every wild animal is extinct. We follow Franny Stone, an unreliable narrator with a dark past, as she tracks the last known flock of Arctic terns on their final migration.
This story is fairly depressing, but there’s a found family aspect that I just absolutely adored and loved how the characters interacted with one another (for the most part). McConaghy is amazing at writing complex, and realistically flawed characters. This is a story about love, and loss, and finding your place in the world, and I thought it was perfect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence