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honeyvenom's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Dementia, Stalking, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content and Abortion
hollispaige's review against another edition
3.25
The ideas were good, but the most interesting characters/plot lines were the older flashback parts (and those were few and far between). I found the main character boring at best and the final ending to be infuriating.
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Abortion
geminisoul's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
mandi_lea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
btwnprintedpgs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Medical content
golderest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Murder
map_to_neverland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
-Genre: Gothic Mystery/Thriller
-Setting: Cape Disappointment, WA
-features a generational curse and a Siren
Atmosphere
My favorite element of this book was the atmosphere. It is a gothic, suspenseful novel about a curse that is taking the lives of mothers in a family line. But, this book is definitely a slow burn. It is not full of jump scares, horror, and witches. Its set in a scenic area, but the setting is described in an eerie way.
Themes
One thing this book does really well is balance the story about the curse with discussing themes of mother/daughter relationships. It ends up bringing a level of emotion to the story that wouldn’t have been present if it only focused on the curse.
Overall
This was a really interesting book! It is important to know what to expect, as it is described as a haunting story that is part ghost story. This book is not a horror about ghosts or a story about witchcraft and magic, but contains a slower atmospheric suspense.
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and War
liteartha's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
they drown our daughters centres on meredith who, amidst a separation from her wife, returns to her childhood home in cape disappointment with her daughter alice in tow. finding her own mother, judith, more paranoid than ever and now without the mitigating factor of her late step father, meredith finds herself once again facing talk of their family's supposed curse. intercut with chapters from women all along the family line, the dark truth of the strand family's history slowly comes together.
while this book thrives in its atmosphere and fraught mother-daughter relationships, the non-linear storytelling made it a challenge to get invested in the characters or even find them particularly distinct from one another. i applaud the late stage twist and bold ending, but do wish there'd been better pacing and character work throughout.
all in all, if a seaside gothic tale following a series of complicated women sounds promising to you, this is well worth picking up.
thank you to netgalley and poison pen press for providing this digital review copy in exchange for an honest review
Graphic: Suicide, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
amandasbookreview's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
“Everyone around here talks about the cape like it exists for the sole purpose of either killing or blessing them. Curses or Mermaids. They forget…” She sipped the vodka, willing it to stay down. “It’s all about the mothers.”
There is a lot happening in this story. It is about multiple generations of women who endure trauma and can’t escape a family curse. It all starts with one mother who would do anything, even kill, to keep her children. But is that really what happens? At first, I thought I knew where this story was headed but I am not going to lie the last quarter of the book did lose me a little bit. The finale of the book is heartwrenching, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry–because I totally did. But the portion before the finale could have used a little polishing. It just didn’t flow as well as the rest of the story.
Many people will hate the different timelines and perspectives but I loved it. It really dove into the inner workings of the mother-daughter relationships within this single family. The quote above states, “It’s all about the mothers.”–and it is so true. We watch Meredith go from unsure and broken from being in a terrible marriage, not being able to connect with her mother, and doubting her abilities as a mother to knowing precisely what to do and to heal the trauma of multiple generations. This book is wonderfully gothic and eerie and I was not disappointed! I definitely plan to read more of Katrina Monroe!
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.75
Meredith Strand returns to her childhood home in Cape Disappointment with her young daughter, Alice, after separating from her wife.
The women in her family are said to be cursed, pulled to the call of the water. This story mainly focuses on Meredith, in the present, but the stories of the women you came before are woven in, creating a multi-timeline story that slowly comes together.
A dark, creepy, gothic atmosphere prevails throughout the book. The several different, non-linear timelines and characters can be confusing at times, and the pacing was a bit too slow at times. Over-all an enjoyable read though.
Graphic: Suicide, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent