Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

North Woods by Daniel Mason

19 reviews

madincrafts's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective 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? No

3.75

I really like interesting and unique books, and this one was both. 

The structure of the book is a succession of stories of people who interacted with a single plot of land in the north woods of New England. The stories are intriguing, but not long enough to really settle in to knowing the characters, but that’s the point of the book. Time will always continue to pass. Things that happened in the past have effects on the future, but history keeps moving forward. 

A modern scientist leads an art exhibit featuring paintings from a mid-1800s painter who ate fruit from trees that were tended by a pre-revolutionary war farmer and which originally grew from a seed buried in the stomach of a Puritan soldier. Stories are all connected, but time keeps moving forward. 

I especially liked that the writing style of each section of the book matched the historical era: Hawthorne-esque prose for the Puritans, pulpy sensationalism for the 40s crime writing, etc. 

There were a few sections of the book where I worried the author was getting a little lost in the sauce, but the ending brought me back around again. 

This is a weird one, and probably not for everyone, but I’m glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

sjabw13's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Beautifully written! Fascinating plot. Favorite book of the year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

rcarri264's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious sad fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Murder

jmiglus's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

Loved this unique novel. (Novel novel?) Weaving together stories of the inhabitants of a parcel of land in western MA, the book takes you chronologically from the 1600s through present day. With ballads, poems, and letters in addition to the usual prose, there is a wonderful blend of historical fiction, ghost story, and natural history. If you liked Lincoln in the Bardo, you’ll probably like this one too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt and Outing

basil_touche's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

It took me until the story with the Osgood family to get truly captivated by this novel, but once I did I found it such an engrossing listening experience. The various narrators (except one which I found grating but thankfully doesn't feature much) really helped each chapter feel like the time periods they were set in and the prose was rich with detail, especially about the nature surrounding the house. The way each character's history linked in small ways was very rewarding to come across, and I much prefer that rather than having a big reveal. Feels more natural (ha) that way.

I also quite like how the supernatural elements were executed here as well, gradly being introduced until the last chapters focus more on it. It made me laugh hard at a part in the chapter with the seance, I'll just say good for them so as not to spoil anything.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Dementia

Minor: Death of parent and Gaslighting

angorarabbit's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

5.0

North Woods tells the story of a place through a few centuries in a 3rd person omniscient narration. The humans are flashes on the years, the real character is the place. Mr Mason tells this story beautifully in loving detail. My only complaint is that the “historical pieces” especially the songs do not quite ring true to the time they are supposedly written in. But that is a small quibble. This is a wonderful book that reminded me that life is fleeting for humans and even trees, but the place remains even as it becomes unrecognisable to those who lived on it centuries ago.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Slavery, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Suicide and Alcohol

There is discussion regarding lobotomies.

spadefootfrog's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Colonisation

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Slavery, Terminal illness, and War

lorenag5's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

danaaliyalevinson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I liked this book. Though it came highly recommended and I wanted to love it. And I didn’t. This said, some of things that made me not love it are things that may be right up the alley of other readers: an omniscient third person narrative voice that can sometimes feel a little emotionally detached (not to be confused with the book being unemotional, it’s a very emotional book. Only that the narrator is giving us that emotion from a very outside perspective), and nearly every chapter featuring a totally new central character all linked together through living in or attachment to a single house over centuries. 

Which for me, I tend to be attracted to very character driven books, and so being presented with a new central character each chapter just as I was getting to know the previous one was difficult for me to get into. But what I will say is, the book is super interesting. It’s very concept driven and the concept is incredibly compelling. One of the things I really did love in its concept was the usage of ephemera. Oftentimes, between chapters, there would be things like photographs, news clippings, obituaries, poems, journal excerpts, etc, which really made the world feel so real and palpable.

So for those who love somewhat experimental concept driven books, you will likely love this. And there are multiple characters who I did find incredibly compelling and was sad to depart from so quickly when the book moved on to a new inhabitant of the house. The book is also undeniably very well written and constructed. I think that while it wasn’t a five star read for me, it would be a five star read for many others. In fact I already recommended it to two different friends who I think would absolutely lose their minds over this book based on their reading tastes. So don’t let my criticism deter you if this is the kind of storytelling you like!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

vireogirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Very disparate, some chapters much harder to read than others. The randomness was too much for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury