Reviews tagging 'Death'

Go as a River by Shelley Read

37 reviews

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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

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

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

mthereader's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: War

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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

erinwea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

Beautifully written. Loved the
Colorado history and geography.  A little too much trauma for 5 stars, but overall redemptive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

clarissa_b's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

maryfranvs's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Sexism, Car accident, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Infertility and Sexual content

sophiafpeach's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

saramariebt's review against another edition

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: Death, Racial slurs, and Racism

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

nimeneth's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

This was a beautifully written book, and sometimes I felt like I could almost smell Colorado (and never having visited, either), but pretty scenery and writing don't make a great book.

It was solidly good, definitely a moving exploration of grief and forgiveness and moving on. I'm not really happy with the overall portrayal of men - all of them were either basically all good or all bad when they were more than just a name on a page like most of the Iola townsfolk were, and black and white viewpoints don't always make for great reading. I did like Victoria's work on the peach farm, when it was mentioned upon, and the fact that a menagerie of animals kept popping up in the background made it feel a little real. But honestly, nothing much happens, and especially in the first quarter or so, Victoria reads like an observer in her own life. I'm glad she found a little more agency. I do wish part 3 hadn't skipped over a full decade, and that the ending had actually added a little more, but I'm not disappointed with having taken the time with this one.

Also, why did we learn so much about the men in Victoria's life (Cal, Og, Seth, her dad) when she basically stopped talking about all of them once they physically left the scene? They all get like one line of ending, and that's not even enough to tie up the loose ends that are still flapping around.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Miscarriage, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

justnei's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.0

This was a beautifully written book, as hard as I found it to read I also was compelled to keep reading. This is a very character driven book, with a lot of introspection done by the protagonist, Victoria. I love how the character grew throughout the book. I was a bit disappointed by the instigating plot point of the book. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way

(referring specifically to Wilson Moon, who I loved but would have loved even more to have him be more than just an Indigenous man being murdered so our white female protagonist can grow as a woman/character)

in the same way that in some media women only exist for their gender based trauma to be a plot point. For these faults, the writing was beautiful and caused me a lot of heartache. I enjoyed the setting and historical period the book was set in. It made me weirdly nostalgic for places I have never been. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Infertility