Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Go as a River by Shelley Read

21 reviews

alyssatuininga's review

emotional reflective sad fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Car accident, Hate crime, War, Death of parent, Death, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Violence, Pregnancy, Animal death, and Infertility

greatexpectations77's review

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

I have about 4K words of thoughts about this that are more appropriate for elsewhere, but I am absolutely baffled that other reviews didn't mention the fact that this book uses violence against a Native person to prompt personal growth from a white woman. Wil shows up, gets called slurs, has no characterization,

gets Tori pregnant, is vaguely magical, and then dies in less than 100 pages. He only exists to be pined for as like an ethereal being. He is written as essentially something other than human who also provided a baby.

it made me REALLY uncomfortable. Also, I felt like the end was a whole different story that got tacked on. I just cannot believe Read talked to Native folks before writing this book, as she states in her acknowledgements. Because I really feel like she just went and checked off all the tropes of writing about Native people in the kind of "magical Negro" trope. The character is there to further the story, but they're not really a full person. I'm just really mad about this. First time I've been burned by a blind date with a book. Sigh. The action kind of trickles out too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Abandonment, Bullying, and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Murder, Blood, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Sexual content, War, and Death of parent

mthereader's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Death, Grief, and Infertility

Minor: War

alexisgarcia's review

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

0.5

this was so so disappointing. the characters are incredibly one dimensional and stereotypical, the plot is incredibly unbelievable and boring, and the author used the singular Indigenous American character is barely featured and simply used to further the main characters story and then thrown away. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Colonisation, Murder, Grief, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Racism, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Abandonment, Blood, Pregnancy, War, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, and Violence

lauren0019's review

emotional reflective medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Abandonment

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Hate crime

Minor: Miscarriage and War

saramariebt's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, and War

mdavis26's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Murder, War, Cultural appropriation, Car accident, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

reading_ladies_blog's review

emotional sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Bullying, Alcoholism, Grief, Misogyny, and Torture

alixcallender's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I have great affection for Victoria, and I loved the slow, reflective, mournful pacing. But I do take issue with a few things: 

- Far to many peach metaphors. We get it. 
- Where is Wilson Moon’s actual personality? 
- The near-end was overly fluffy and convenient. (Without giving anything away, I will just say that I am not convinced that Victoria could have imagined *that outcome* with such accuracy, nor do I believe that two people can glean such perfect and correct meaning from a pile of rocks.)

It was very much like Where the Crawdad’s Sing, so if you liked that story you’ll probably like this one too. It’s a poolside read. I read it quickly, and enjoyed it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Abandonment, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Violence, Colonisation, Miscarriage, War, Sexism, and Alcohol

Minor: Car accident, Body shaming, Infertility, Animal cruelty, and Sexual content

mgudaval's review

reflective sad medium-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment and Murder