Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

65 reviews

binayocheved's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.0

3 stars because, while the story was lovely & as gentle as flowing water, really delightful, it’s the twenty-first century & we’ve really got to stop using “gy****s”. it’s historical fiction; that doesn’t mean we have to let the mores & bigotry of history infect our own stories. thank. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Racial slurs

emeraldcityreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

ebgat's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Minor: Rape

booksandmo's review

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

k_bb's review against another edition

mysterious 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

2.5

Although the book had potential, it was generally long-winded and overdone. The climax was synthetic considering how long the book built up to it. The denouement was excessive and there was at least one chapter too many. There were many problematic references to "river-gypsies" that I hoped would resolve themselves in some way with the author explicitly revealing the ignorance and discrimination of the term, but it was never addressed. Not really worth the read, in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child death and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape

bmassie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I really loved this book. If you’re into books that are dark, mysterious and have a folklore feel - you’ll enjoy this. Be prepared to suspend disbelief - this has bits of magical realism and folklore intricately woven into the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

lizzie24601's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

mleckie's review against another edition

Maybe it was because I was listening to it, but I had hard time keeping the characters straight or understanding how any of them were related to the overarching story that was (not) being told. I was bored and didn’t care about any of the characters stories. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death

brax's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Rape

rainb0wreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

While I can say I was invested in the action in this book, there is literally nothing else that was getting me through it. I was honestly forcing myself to finish this book. The plot? A fantastic concept? The atmosphere? Cozy. The characters? Very different, very interesting, but I just didn’t care. The writing style was what mostly wrecked it for me. This was supposed to be a mystery from what I gather, but it read like an old timey fantasy, which kind of suites the book but not really. I wasn’t attached the the characters really which was disappointing because this is such a character driven book. When the secrets and the plot unfolded it was nice and I liked the action that came with it, I just felt like this book really wasn’t for me, that’s all. I guess I see why other people like it, I just didn’t. The ending was cute though, I did like that ending.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Racism

Minor: Rape