taliaissmart's review
5.0
I loved this book. Rarely do I come across a female main character who possesses Margo's off-the-charts grit and guts. Margo is strong, not in spite of her gender and sexual identity, but because of them. Once Upon a River inspired every emotion in me, and I empathized wholeheartedly with Margo despite the fact that her life and mine have nothing in common. Truly beautiful storytelling.
underscorefab's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
sad
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
ljjohnson8's review
5.0
There is no way I should have liked this book. Lots of nature, hunting, fishing, skinning muskrats, living off the land, backwoods folks, and birds. My favorite things!
However, I loved it. Margo Crane is a heroine to remember. I felt like I was in a dream as I read this book; that's how transported and swept away I was. Margo is a river wild child who the men in her life are always trying to define. They even rename her: Maggie, Nymph, Margaret Louise, etc. They rape her, love her, abandon her, attempt to change and control her, but she finds her own way on her own terms. The only person who accepted her for who she truly was makes it possible for her to live her own life, a gift Margo knows how to appreciate. The writing was exquisite, the story unique, and the characters unusual and fascinating without being unbelievable. This was a great start to the new year. It's going to be hard to top.
However, I loved it. Margo Crane is a heroine to remember. I felt like I was in a dream as I read this book; that's how transported and swept away I was. Margo is a river wild child who the men in her life are always trying to define. They even rename her: Maggie, Nymph, Margaret Louise, etc. They rape her, love her, abandon her, attempt to change and control her, but she finds her own way on her own terms. The only person who accepted her for who she truly was makes it possible for her to live her own life, a gift Margo knows how to appreciate. The writing was exquisite, the story unique, and the characters unusual and fascinating without being unbelievable. This was a great start to the new year. It's going to be hard to top.
gretchenarmstrong14's review
2.0
Way too much gory hunting detail at the beginning for me to get into this one... Animal lovers beware!
librarian_lisa_22's review
3.0
I love Margo’s toughness, ingenuity, resourcefulness and fierceness. I love her wildness and fascination with the river and Annie Oakley. I do not love her use of sex to survive and her frequent rapes and poor choices. Her mother was a cartoon, as was Cal. But Margo was an interesting and likeable heroine. I appreciate her building connection with Smoke and the life she will soon bring into the world.
sandeestarlite's review
3.0
This would make for a good bookclub discussion. The storytelling is fabulous and characters strong but I wanted to strangle Margo in her passivity in bed hopping rather than living her own life. A young woman alone in a redneck man's world? How not to come-of-age? I don't even know how to describe this book.
avalydia's review
4.0
Once, just once, I'd like to read about someone who actually goes through with the abortion.
Minor quibbling aside, this was an excellent novel.
Minor quibbling aside, this was an excellent novel.
carolynf's review
3.0
By the time you get to the second half of the book, the protagonist seems slightly less psychotic. But during the whole first half there is a lot of sex and violence that just seemed really random, and she was fairly emotionless about all of it. She doesn't like to talk at all really, REALLLY likes to shoot, and always has to be close enough to her river to smell it. All that is fine. But for most of the book she is closed off from other people, even considering her age and the shit that she's been through. She bonds with her dad (kind of?) in the beginning of the book, and a dying old man at the end of the book, and everyone else along the way is just evaluated for possible resources. Combine that with her compulsion to kill animals and butcher them, way more frequently than is actually necessary for food, and the effect is just creepy. A distinctive heroine, but a creepy one - I kept thinking about Gone Girl throughout. I couldn't tell how much the reader is supposed to see her as a free spirit versus a dangerously disconnected person.