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hannahnmac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Minor: Child death and Domestic abuse
kathleendayle's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
purnuhja's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I still thought the story was interesting with really vivid prose. I loved all of the imagery around the river and how it's portrayed with a certain amount of sentience. I also just enjoyed that this is a story about the power of stories. Sometimes the characterization felt repetitive and lacking subtlety in the writing style, and the book has a slow start in general, but overall a good read.
Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
kimveach's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
thepurplepixel's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
tiffanykoenig's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse and Rape
matcha_cat'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? No
3.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
megan_mac_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
a slow burn, but I was in the mood for the slow build, as the story weaved, twisted, ebbed and flowed
plus her writing was beautiful and I was captivated by all the stories and characters
a little bit mystery, a little bit historical fiction, a little bit magical realism ~ a good book to begin a new year with
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault
jarailuca44's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Rape
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
"Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth." is an insane claim lmao. There's not an ounce of magic in the book and the only folklores and myths are basically just stories told.
While I loved the premise, the actual story fell quite short on expectations. Not only was it not fantasy as described above, the "mystery" had a very predictable path and the ending was just a bit shallow. Family trees, who did what, etc was all "hinted" at earlier in the story with the subtly of a brick through a window. Coincidences don't really exist, so if something lines up that's likely the answer.
The book feels like it's written like a river, a lot of little threads at the start slowly weaving into the larger plot and by the end it's all entwined. I thought it'd be akin to a river with it's pacing as well, start slow and gain speed, but while it did pick up a bit it did stay quite slow throughout.
There are.... a *lot* of characters. I really quite struggled to work out who was who, and especially who's POV each chapter was on (since theres a narrator throughout it gives less of a distinct voice to each chapter) and once people started having more than 1 name it just got even more confusing. Trying to work out who's child was who (there's far too many missing girls the same age in such a small area what the fuck lmao) and all that stuff was far too confusing.
I think, like Babel, I would have liked this a lot better from another author. Or maybe if it wasn't marketed as fantasy/magical realism.
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Kidnapping, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, and Stalking
No miscarrages, but a lot of mentions and descriptions of trauma around birth, death of mothers during birth and similar. Additionally there's a lot of racist and ableist slurs used throughout - and even a whole page explaining one particular slur used against people who have Down's Syndrome.