Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Go as a River by Shelley Read

8 reviews

booksbri's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Miscarriage, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic relationship

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

4.75

A story that brings life to completion, and a story with so much more to be told. One that lets my imagination fill in the gaps most satisfactorily.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

I have about 4K words of thoughts about this that are more appropriate for elsewhere, but I am absolutely baffled that other reviews didn't mention the fact that this book uses violence against a Native person to prompt personal growth from a white woman. Wil shows up, gets called slurs, has no characterization,

gets Tori pregnant, is vaguely magical, and then dies in less than 100 pages. He only exists to be pined for as like an ethereal being. He is written as essentially something other than human who also provided a baby.

It made me REALLY uncomfortable. Also, I felt like the end was a whole different story that got tacked on. I just cannot believe Read talked to Native folks before writing this book, as she states in her acknowledgements. Because I really feel like she just went and checked off all the tropes of writing about Native people in the kind of "magical Negro" trope. The character is there to further the story, but they're not really a full person. I'm just really mad about this. First time I've been burned by a blind date with a book. Sigh. The action kind of trickles out too. 
*bought at Analogue Books & Records in Pueblo, CO

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

plasticpansy's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and War

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

0.5

this was so so disappointing. the characters are incredibly one dimensional and stereotypical, the plot is incredibly unbelievable and boring, and the author used the singular Indigenous American character is barely featured and simply used to further the main characters story and then thrown away. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lovetlr's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Drug abuse and Toxic relationship

amplify's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Excellent - reads quickly despite the lyrical prose and storyline. Really beautiful and so well told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, and War

alisa4books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

Amazingly beautiful saga of one woman's life in Colorado through layers of loss continually resurfacing to take fresh gulps of triumph, hope, and life itself.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol