Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

4 reviews

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.5

I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did. It should have been a powerful tale of love, hope, loss, and joy. Yet, I didn't feel most of these things while reading it. If anything, I kept feeling that the emotions were told from a great distance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wolfgvng's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation

nightowlreader46's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bringmybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

5.0

This was an astoundingly beautiful debut novel and I can't recommend it highly enough.

✨ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 ✨ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

While not shying away from any of the realities of the history (with the content warnings to match - it's beautiful, but hard to read at times), this novel still manages to uplift your soul with the way it allows you to be a part of Rachel's journey. I'm not a mother myself, but I commend Eleanor Shearer on her ability to make you feel so connected to things that you have never had to experience. Rachel's love for her children, the way she remembers them, the way she yearns for them, the way she feels guilt and love and frustration and joy and deepest heartache; you are intimately involved in these feelings with her and it made the book very strong.

The history of slavery (&especially the Emancipation Act of 1834 and how that affected those enslaved in the Caribbean) was completely unknown to me, and I thought Shearer did a really good job adding a lot of factual information in a way that felt woven throughout the story as opposed to info-dumping it.

I was especially moved with the way water and the rivers played an integral role in the story, and the complicated nature of how Rachel and those around her felt about them. 

This was an emotionally resounding novel that will definitely be one I find myself recommending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment