Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The North Water by Ian McGuire

5 reviews

farmpaws's review against another edition

4.0

Beautifully written with vivid imagery and fascinating characters. McGuire transports you easily into the world of the story and all its vicious and brutal elements. The way he describes the scenery was particularly striking, perfectly capturing the distinct beauty and loneliness of the arctic. It was really interesting how he wove the three elements of the storyline (man vs man, man vs government, man vs nature) especially in a setting that is so isolated. 

This would’ve been higher starred but the author has the unfortunate belief that using  many slurs and extra-gross descriptions makes the story more grim and dark. Nothing would have changed had they been taken out and it was honestly more annoying than anything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Cannibalism, and Colonisation

libeccio's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Alcohol, and Colonisation

sirissacgluten's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Cannibalism

jackbifrost's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, and Colonisation

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Outing, and Alcohol

kissmyash0600's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This was a brutal and difficult story to get through. I also feel like it lost momentum partway through. Given the time period, be aware of racism of antisemitism in the story. None of the characters were particularly interesting and I feel like there wasn’t much development that made me prefer any character over another. There was one character worth hating, which was very clear, but other than that, the characters were pretty blah. It seems like this wanted to be a story of hardship and survival during the whaling trade, but it just didn’t fully work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Excrement, and Murder