Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Go as a River by Shelley Read

30 reviews

raeerdna's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

heartbreaking. the cruel and sad face of reality breaking its point. i loved how real this story felt but still far away from life as today. even tho you can clearly see the mistakes from that period happening today as well, i was transported in that time and felt a soul crashing love and anger from it. cried, felt happy, relieved and angry all throughout it. never felt so familiar with a character but be almost nothing like it. that's what i loved the most about this book, it was beating like my heart is heard. oh, and all the detailed descriptions of nature and its beauty, that as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, War, Alcoholism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Car accident, Hate crime, Colonisation, Murder, Pregnancy, and Violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Blood, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Torture

luelle_'s review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal death, Blood, Abandonment, Death, Grief, and Racial slurs

Minor: Miscarriage and Child death

jenissaaa's review

Something just didn’t sit right with me about

killing off an indigenous character just to give trauma to a white woman to further the plot, especially when you don’t even get to spend enough time to get to know him as a character before he’s murdered

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Murder, Grief, Pregnancy, and Racism

lcg527's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, and Abandonment

aidan_aurora's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Such an incredible read! Shelley Read is an incredible writer, I had to stop reading many times to underline or circle lines that were so stunningly beautiful or resonant. I highly recommend everyone read this book, but especially young women or old women from small towns. But prepare yourself for a couple good crys. 
Cant wait to see what Read writes next!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Hate crime, Abandonment, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Death

bookchatwithbeth's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Gore, Grief, and Racism

Moderate: Miscarriage and Infertility

serendipitysbooks's review

emotional reflective

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

4.0

 Go as a River seems to be an internet darling. It’s been widely compared to Where The Crawdads Sing - a comparison which I think is valid - which I read and loved in 2018. It’s a coming of age story, features a strong female protagonist, has gorgeous writing and a strong connection with the environment. Tick, tick, tick, and tick. And yet, while I enjoyed it I didn’t love it.

I certainly felt for Victoria, motherless from a young age and expected to run the home, run after her father, brother and uncle who all treated her poorly, while still working on the family peach orchard. When she finds love it is cruelly snatched from her because it is deemed forbidden. I enjoyed seeing her grow into a competent businesswoman and successful orchardist, watching her develop friendships and a sense of community, but most especially seeing her growth in understanding and compassion as regards to Ruby-Alice. I found the depictions of the Colorado mountains with their stark sort of beauty, as well as the Gunnison River to be evocative, and could really feel Victoria’s connection to her environment. The author’s portrayal of small town life in the 1940s felt spot-on especially, sadly, the racism and treatment of those perceived as different.

The storyline relating to Victoria as a mother was heart wrenching but also felt a little emotionally manipulative. Or perhaps I’m growing weary of the self-sacrificing mother trope. I would have loved to see more made of the decision to dam the Gunnison River and the community reaction to it. I enjoy environmental themes like that and they are incredibly relevant.

In other words the book mostly worked for me, yet didn’t hit as hard as expected. Pretty sure this has less to do with the book and more to do with the way I’ve changed as a reader. I no longer love the type of books I used to love. I’m definitely leaning more literary and wanting different voices, new stories and points of view, more complexity, books that help me see the world in new ways. I know I’ve got another couple of new releases on my TBR that 2018 me would have loved. I’ll be very interested to see how 2023 me finds them.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Grief

Moderate: Hate crime and Murder

louisekf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Grief, and Hate crime

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident and Miscarriage

patticap's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Death, and Hate crime

alisa4books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Amazingly beautiful saga of one woman's life in Colorado through layers of loss continually resurfacing to take fresh gulps of triumph, hope, and life itself.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Murder, Death, Grief, Drug use, Infertility, Racism, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Abandonment