Reviews with content warning for Rape - Saltwater

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

af666014's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

I love how the book is written, almost poetry. Such beautiful writing and what a way to tell about growing up, developing a self. I also loved the complexities of the mother/daughter relationship

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This was not the type of novel I expected so I needed a minute to get into it to be honest.
It is split into four parts and we follow Lucy as she switches narratives between living her life in the present and to growing up, and her relationship with her mother is at the fore and core.

- And it has grown on me since the initial reaction (3.5 stars, and I’m glad I read it btw).

My favourite part - of these diary-esque vignettes if that’s even a thing - was the “current setup” in Ireland. Overall I found the book honest, meaningful, sweet and layered.

Also, credit where credit’s due, and maybe I’ll reread this one day to get a better feel of it, the fracturing, moving and changing mother-daughter relationship and dynamic is a strong trope in this book. The ambivalence and heartbreak of it is pretty tangible and very much relevant and relatable and carries the story forward in how this new crossroads is still heavy with the mix of a want and need and a letting go. If that makes sense…

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isaarusilor's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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bxcvi's review

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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lolasherwin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

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writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

Saltwater by Jessica Andrews 🌆
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨

🌆 The plot: To Lucy, London always seemed like the promised land. After growing up in Sunderland and the shadow of her father’s alcoholism, the city seems suffused with glamour and promise: conversations to be had, gigs to attend, people to meet. But after studying in the city for three years, Lucy finds herself exhausted. After graduating, she flees to her late grandfather’s cottage in a remote part of Donegal, where she reflects on growing up and growing out of your old dreams.

I wasn’t sure if this book was for me at first. It’s that particular kind of literary fiction that seems to skim along the surface of events, collecting only scattered poignant details, rather than digging down into actual scenes. It reminded me of a cross between Bluets by Maggie Nelson and The Outrun by Amy Liptrot, told in short vignettes and flicking between harsh urban scenes and wild nature. It’s beautiful, but I wasn’t sure it would give me the immediacy I wanted.

Safe to say it won me over though. While Andrews moves through scenes very fluidly, her descriptions are visceral and sensory. They place you bodily into the environments Lucy and her family move through and you come away with dirt under your fingernails - the smokiness of her granddad’s garden after a bonfire, the grit of a school playground in a skinned knee. I especially loved her descriptions of Lucy’s teenage years, the vulnerability and exhilaration of navigating a new body and the attention that comes with it, whether invited, uninvited, or somewhere in between.

🌆 Read it if you love memoirs (this is autobiographical fiction, but it reads like a memoir), and particularly Bluets or The Outrun. Also if you love university novels and mother-daughter narratives, as those are big themes.

🚫 Avoid it if you hate very “lyrical” literary fiction and prefer your prose to feel more grounded. Also if you’re sensitive to depictions of alcoholism, sexual assault, and ableism (specifically against d/Deaf people, as the protagonist’s brother is deaf).

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georgie_ewingmallett's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

Too fragmented for me, but when I could catch the story I liked it

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emilyburton30's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

This was recommended to me by one of my lovely besties. This book is beautifully written. The prose is stunning and several things she says in the book resonate with me as a person.However, whilst reading this book I got into a reading slump - whether that was due to the book or myself I’m unsure. There were parts of the book that really did hook me though others did fall a bit flat. To its credit, I do think the book got better as it went on.

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