Reviews with content warning for Violence - A River Enchanted

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross

104 reviews

madam_tatas's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I need to start off this review by saying that my daughter and I actually picked this book together. We were looking at my stack of unread Book of the Month books, and I was trying to find something to read after the mystery and thrill of The Rule of Three by Sam Ripley. (If you haven’t read that one, I highly recommend it too. Even if you don’t normally like mystery/thriller books like myself.) She was looking at the books and making faces at the stack of romance novels in my pile. She then looked at A River Enchanted and said “I think you should read this one. Something about the cover…” I looked up at her and said, “That’s actually why I ordered it when I saw it on Book of the Month.” Anyway, now that we’re done discussing the background of how I ended up reading this book, let’s move on to the review.

Words are not enough to describe how I feel after finishing this book. I want more. I want the sequel. I almost cried at the ending. I haven’t cried over a book in so long, and this one nearly made me do it. The relationships between the characters could be felt in every word. There were some areas where one of the marriages reminded me of my own. I could feel the strain, the frustration, the longing to build something beyond what they currently had. I was so happy they were successful in the end. Watching the characters grow through the course of the book was amazing. Although the entire thing took place in only a few weeks, like one of the characters even commented, it felt like years had passed.

I feel changed after reading this book. I feel like I found a piece of myself that I didn’t even realize was missing. I feel like I’ve found new friends and family members that I didn’t know existed. Every pain they felt, I felt. Every joy they celebrated, I celebrated with them. I am now eagerly downloading the sequel onto my Kindle using my Kindle Unlimited subscription, but I will be purchasing a physical copy as soon as I possibly can.

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capriqueen's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

A wonderfully crafted story. The interspliced POV’s were really well done, and both romances tugged at the heartstrings. The world was vibrant and the mysteries intriguing

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laura_hart15's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

it took me a while to warm up to the story. Now that it is over, my heart aches for Jack and Adaira. Will read the 2nd book to see where the story leads.

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marjeannguyen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? No

5.0

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dunecello's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Beautifully written, and lovely use of the Squishy Wizard trope, with an in-canon reason for it!
The Scottish fantasy setting is so cozy and the stories within the story felt like fairy tales.
It is rare that I enjoy romance in fiction, but the dynamics between the main couple in this book seemed appealing when I heard about it, and they did not let me down. Absolutely loved Jack and Adaira as a pair. On the other hand, I found the more traditional (in terms of romance literature) secondary couple uninteresting and my attention wavered during their scenes. It got to the point where I groaned whenever it was Sidra's POV. Really did not enjoy her characterization. Though I will say, the quote

"I've built my life upon something that can be taken from me"

hit hard. I needed to read that.
The reason for the girls' disappearances ended up being a little ridiculous. But as someone whose

ancestors were involved in a blood feud that stupidly still exist today

, it's not that farfetched.
The ending broke my heart as it was supposed to so I will be reading the next book at some point. Hope we get a lot more Jack ♥ Adaira in the next one.

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styxx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

2.0

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ciwanski's review against another edition

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

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

3.25

Multiple times throughout this reading experience I had to stop and wonder if I liked what I was reading or not. In the end, I guess yes? I mean, the set up for the second book was well done enough that I’m immediately going to my library to pick it up, so yeah, I liked it I guess.

However, I thought the prose was a little wonky at times, and the dialogue seemed very stilted which took me out of the reading experience quite often.

I didn’t really believe in the relationship between the two leads — I felt like it came out of nowhere, though the devotion they showed each other was cute.

The conflicts in the story also seemed a bit contrived and/or extreme??? Idk but the stakes kept rapidly changing in my eyes. There was the seriousness of the kidnappings interwoven with an Instagram therapist-esque conflict of self love that almost held the same weight?? Things felt a bit off.

The book definitely got better the further into it you got, and I was completely taken by the magic system Ross has come up with. I’m also so enamored by the quote, “I am but a verse inspired by your chorus.” Fleeting moments of beautiful language and imagery interspersed in otherwise unremarkable (eek sorry!) writing.

Very obvious Scottish backdrop as well, but I’m not sure that’s unintentional, so can’t really fault it lol

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grace_b_3's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

This book had lush prose and compelling characters. The Celtic-inspired setting and interesting magic system are definitely draws. It lost me a bit with the ending, but I enjoyed the ride.

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bookjudy42's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Exceptionally written, deep and satisfying lore, characters that make your heart ache. I loved it.

Content Warnings

kwthor's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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