Reviews tagging 'Child death'

River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer

17 reviews

lizsurber's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Trafficking, Bullying, Child abuse, Racism, Body horror, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Colonisation, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

What I really liked about this book is how different it was than so many books I've read and what I learned while reading it. I've not read many books (maybe any) with a similar plot, of an enslaved person trying to track down their stolen children, so it was a pleasure to read something that felt totally new. I also didn't know much about enslavement in the Caribbean and its history, which had me looking up things as I was reading, learning more about its history and where things were happening.

Shearer created an interesting story that was mostly well-paced. The ending felt a bit rushed after how much build up there had been throughout the rest of the book, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment all that much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Child death and Racism

neetarattan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 • 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘍𝘪𝘤 • 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦 ⁣
𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 31 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2023⁣

There is no force on Earth more powerful than a mother's love. It is as big as the sky and as deep as the ocean.

It’s unimaginable to put myself into the shoes of a woman whose 5 babies were stolen & resold into slavery as children. My mama bear heart couldn't survive it. 

Emancipation — or the "what came after" slavery is the subject of this book. After being declared “free”, Mama Rachel goes on the run in order to discover the fates of her 5 adult children, to reunite her family.

Although a bit far-fetched at times, because this is fiction it worked. I appreciated the unique arcs of each of her children. I teared up several times and I wanted them to all have a happy homecoming, even though I knew that was unlikely/unrealistic. This book was both heartbreaking and also full of love, hope, courage, and determination.

It highlights the injustices of slavery, but also how post-emancipation life was not all that different than indentured servitude. How many black people were still killed by whites without repercussions. 

I would highly recommend the audio format in order to get the best reading of the accents and speech used throughout the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Slavery, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Violence

brichneyfloss's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Racism, Colonisation, and Slavery

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Hate crime, and Death

Minor: Rape

monicabach's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

This book is devastatingly beautiful. It has completely changed me as a mother. When I read the first few chapters and she explained how she came to lose every one of her children, I was rocking my 2 year old. I sobbed and held him tight and prayed to God to never take him from me. This book is slow at times but so full of emotion and hope. 

Content: not a single curse word. Implications of rape and prostitution but not in detail. Some instances of the overseer beating a slave but not terrifyingly graphic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Death, and Child death

laheath's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

It was interesting, yet heartbreaking, to read about the supposed end of slavery in the Caribbean and how plantation owners used apprenticeships to get around it.  With any prior knowledge of the treatment of slaves, the reader won't find anything new here.  Though the main character, Rachel, is technically freed by England, she has to run away from the plantation owner and overseer who refuse to comply with the law.  She courageously sets out to find her surviving children who were taken away/sold.  The plot was predictable with simplistic writing but managed to give examples of different scenarios when searching for lost family, though each was portrayed as quite a simple process.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Slavery

Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Death, and Grief

Minor: Colonisation, Child death, Racism, and Sexual assault

silodear's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Child abuse, and Slavery

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

katja24's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery and Racism

Moderate: Child death and Death

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

From a perspective that helps one see the different culture and understand the brutal history of slavery in the Caribbean, this book is great. It really tugs at the heartstrings as you follow a mother who escapes slavery to search for her sold children. The descriptions of the landscapes are also great. However, when it came to the characters, I found them, apart from Rachel, a bit one-dimensional and like their descriptions were more “telling” than “showing.” I also was frustrated that Rachel didn’t start her quest until about 100 pages in of a 300 page book—the slow beginning made me less inclined to really immerse myself into the story. Overall it was good, but I think it could’ve been better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Blood, Violence, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Bullying, Gore, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Alcohol

jordynkw's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Child death, Death, Blood, and Grief