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esterie's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
first off, i think historical fiction based on real events, involving real people, really isn't my cup of tea. the fictionalization of real people struck me as kind of.... dehumanizing. as netti90 said in their review (oh how i wish we could like reviews on here!): "I think it just weirds me out when real people are fictionalized because they actually existed."
second, the pacing was not great. a fair few great horror elements early on, with large swathes of boring droll in between and unnecessary "backstory" for certain characters, some of which served the narrative literally not at all. after reading up on the true account of the donner party whilst reading this, there's really no reason a book about their journey, even a fictionalized horror book, should be boring. but it was. i kept looking at my percentage read and feeling the sunk cost fallacy more and more. and the sheer number of "characters"! i take notes while reading (memory issues) and even then i kept having to search the book for names thinking 'who tf are you???'. keeping track of who was who, who was married into certain families, who was hired help, etc. was tedious. i know the donner party was large, but damn i felt like didn't know half these people when they were mentioned, they were integrated into the story so poorly.
how i imagined the story to go, before i started, would be to follow a fictional family on this journey, and their observations of the events. i think that would have fit so much better. OR, take this concept of a blood-born disease that fills one with an insatiable rage and hunger, and center it on a (fictional!!!) pioneer family. 10 people max. something stalking outside their cabin, cattle going missing, people acting weird, getting sick. all much smaller scale, but i think it would have been so so SO much more effective!!!
on the horror element btw, i was expecting it to be more of a skinwalker story. one very vicious malevolent entity sneaking into the group, changing appearance, sowing chaos. instead it was an.....
some plot points were just left up in the air? when
at least from this i heard about "The Indifferent Stars Above", which i've promptly added to my tbr. still jonesing for a good skinwalker horror story, unfortunately.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism
narbine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicide, Pregnancy, and War
thedemonastagoth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia
magical_mads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ak97x's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Cannibalism, Stalking, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Suicide attempt, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic depiction or two of animal death, important to the story line. Child death / murder and abuse discussed. Attempted r*pe and familial r*pe discussed, as is voluntary incest. This book, as the real event, heavily involves cannibalism. Historical accuracies were well used coupled with fabrication to make it interesting.filipa_maia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Although, at some points this is a very dark and twisted story I found it very dragging and kinda hard to keep up. There are too many characters, too many similar names, too many background stories...
Maybe I need to reread it and the next time I will enjoy it more. We'll see!
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Narrated by Kirsten Potter
Unabridged
I think I would have preferred having read the non fiction event of what happened, which is a first for me.
It just felt a bit off and I can't exactly pin point why - but I know that for me, I quickly lost track of all the characters.
The skin walker lore was interesting, and I would like to read more about that in the future.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
alexijai98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sugarbucky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Pregnancy