Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

14 reviews

sarah_speaks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, and Grief

Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

hkrobock's review against another edition

emotional inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

amyvl93's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

 Sometimes when a historical fiction novel doesn't quite hit as much as I wanted it to, I wish the author had written a non-fiction piece instead - and that is the case with River Sing Me Home. The novel follows Rachel who flees the plantation she has been enslaved on after the Emancipation Act to try and find her five children who have all been taken from her. This journey takes her across Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad and exposes her to the different lives that black people are attempting to find in this new context.

Shearer's close focus into the time of the 1834 Emancipation Act was very interesting to me - I didn't know about how many plantation owners, and other white business owners, essentially kept their slaves in place using loopholes which meant they could still be considered 'runaways'. Whilst I knew bits about the slave rebellions, much of the detail that was shared in this novel was new to me, and I also appreciated how Shearer also touched on the experience of those who were indigenous to the islands - who were there before colonisers arrived.

What didn't quite work as well for me was the characterisation of Rachel and others in the novel. Despite the often moving and heart-breaking content of this novel, I felt very distanced from Rachel and I felt that we were told rather than shown her emotions. She also didn't always incredibly rooted. The writing that I found the most moving was where we had characters telling their own stories, rooted in the first person, and perhaps there was a missed opportunity to truly tell Rachel's story. I also wasn't sure how I felt about a slightly unprobable romance that was thrown into the story as well.

River Sing Me Home highlights an important period of history, but wasn't a total hit for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual assault, Grief, and Murder

jennipea382's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Grief, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

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

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

brewdy_reader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 • 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘍𝘪𝘤 • 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦 ⁣
𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 31 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2023⁣

There is no force on Earth more powerful than a mother's love. It is as big as the sky and as deep as the ocean.

It’s unimaginable to put myself into the shoes of a woman whose 5 babies were stolen & resold into slavery as children. My mama bear heart couldn't survive it. 

Emancipation — or the "what came after" slavery is the subject of this book. After being declared “free”, Mama Rachel goes on the run in order to discover the fates of her 5 adult children, to reunite her family.

Although a bit far-fetched at times, because this is fiction it worked. I appreciated the unique arcs of each of her children. I teared up several times and I wanted them to all have a happy homecoming, even though I knew that was unlikely/unrealistic. This book was both heartbreaking and also full of love, hope, courage, and determination.

It highlights the injustices of slavery, but also how post-emancipation life was not all that different than indentured servitude. How many black people were still killed by whites without repercussions. 

I would highly recommend the audio format in order to get the best reading of the accents and speech used throughout the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

laheath's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

It was interesting, yet heartbreaking, to read about the supposed end of slavery in the Caribbean and how plantation owners used apprenticeships to get around it.  With any prior knowledge of the treatment of slaves, the reader won't find anything new here.  Though the main character, Rachel, is technically freed by England, she has to run away from the plantation owner and overseer who refuse to comply with the law.  She courageously sets out to find her surviving children who were taken away/sold.  The plot was predictable with simplistic writing but managed to give examples of different scenarios when searching for lost family, though each was portrayed as quite a simple process.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Torture

Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

susie_bee's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Grief

Minor: Miscarriage

armstam3's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative sad

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Slavery, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence