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A review by madisonrose1519
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Set a reminder in your phone to start this book over Thanksgiving weekend. If you’re looking for something that has cozy vibes and has a beautiful, vividly descriptive winter setting, this book is for you!!! That is, if you don’t mind also reading extremely detailed accounts of murder and rape…
The storyline kept me wanting more, yet the charm made me want it to never end. I was sucked into the story so much so that I thought about reading it while I was at work! But I put off finishing it because I was so enjoying being immersed in a Hallowell winter!
I will say that the clues dropped throughout the novel were fairly obvious and didn’t leave me guessing, which was a bit of a bummer. There were no shocking twists for me at the end. And one tiny but obvious part of the storyline didn’t get resolved, which is really bugging me. Otherwise, this may have been a 4.5 rather than 4 star-read for me.
I absolutely adore how Lawhon wrote the heroine Martha Ballard’s personality. Loving Martha is what made me want to keep my nose in this book forever. A brilliant, thoughtful, talented midwife, mother, wife, homemaker, healer, feminist, WOMAN—it’s been a long time since I’ve read a character I wished I could meet in real life. If you want to read a character you can respect in a novel that will put you in the “F*** the patriarchy!” kind of mood, this inspiring tale will get you there! And for it to be inspired by a real person?! Oh my goodness. What a treat to know Martha Ballard really existed.
The storyline kept me wanting more, yet the charm made me want it to never end. I was sucked into the story so much so that I thought about reading it while I was at work! But I put off finishing it because I was so enjoying being immersed in a Hallowell winter!
I will say that the clues dropped throughout the novel were fairly obvious and didn’t leave me guessing, which was a bit of a bummer. There were no shocking twists for me at the end. And one tiny but obvious part of the storyline didn’t get resolved, which is really bugging me. Otherwise, this may have been a 4.5 rather than 4 star-read for me.
I absolutely adore how Lawhon wrote the heroine Martha Ballard’s personality. Loving Martha is what made me want to keep my nose in this book forever. A brilliant, thoughtful, talented midwife, mother, wife, homemaker, healer, feminist, WOMAN—it’s been a long time since I’ve read a character I wished I could meet in real life. If you want to read a character you can respect in a novel that will put you in the “F*** the patriarchy!” kind of mood, this inspiring tale will get you there! And for it to be inspired by a real person?! Oh my goodness. What a treat to know Martha Ballard really existed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Racism, Slavery, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War