pixiestyx22's review against another edition
4.0
I can't decide if this is a 3.5 or a 4 for me. It took me a LONG time to get into this one...like maybe 150 pages or so before it started picking up speed. And I appreciate that the older stuff was written in a similar way to how they would have talked in the 1800's, which made it cool but slow-going. I kept putting it down and picking it back up. BUT once it started going I really enjoyed it. Catriona, like always, threw in some twists and turns and tied everything up in the end. Very poetically and heartbreakingly. I only have one more of her books to go so she needs to write faster... :)
vee615's review against another edition
1.0
I was first captured by the title, then then the cover and finally by the description. I was excited to read it, I enjoy a good ghost story. But, I couldn't get into it. The pacing was bad, the writing was very much like reading a Jane Austen novel which I personally do not enjoy.
So the story focuses on Iris and then moves through various branches of her family, so there are time jumps and things. Iris is raised by her opium addicted father. There are rules that she must follow in order to keep HER away. Everyone in her family, for generations, have been killed early and brutally by HER. Eventually there is a twist, but it wasn't a big moment for me, probably because at that point I would have been fine if everyone had died. Iris is a pretty tragic character by the end. Be prepared as well that a couple chapters toward the end get confusing as to whose point of view it is.
I just felt that the author rolled with whatever popped into her head and it made for a tangled story. I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone.... which makes me sad.
So the story focuses on Iris and then moves through various branches of her family, so there are time jumps and things. Iris is raised by her opium addicted father. There are rules that she must follow in order to keep HER away. Everyone in her family, for generations, have been killed early and brutally by HER. Eventually there is a twist, but it wasn't a big moment for me, probably because at that point I would have been fine if everyone had died. Iris is a pretty tragic character by the end. Be prepared as well that a couple chapters toward the end get confusing as to whose point of view it is.
I just felt that the author rolled with whatever popped into her head and it made for a tangled story. I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone.... which makes me sad.
caitsidhe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
God, what a book. I love a gothic, and this is an amazing gothic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Ableism, Medical content, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief
juliwi's review
5.0
Sometimes I just want to smack myself across the face for not reading a certain book earlier. Last week was another one of those occasions as I found myself falling in love with Catriona Ward's Rawblood. This particular novel had been waiting for me on my Kindle SINCE 2015!! I know, this is not okay and I sincerely apologize to the literary gods. But now that I finally got around to it I can also finally tell you just how amazing I thought it was. Thanks to Orion Publishing Group and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Once I finished Rawblood I tried to tell my housemate about it but I didn't even know what to lead with. Rawblood is many things. It's a historical fiction novel and it's Gothic horror story. It's about a girl but it's also about a family. It's full of evil and guilt, but filled with love. Ward set herself up for a major challenge with this story but somehow manages to bring all these different themes together into one stunning narrative. It is not often that a novel can make you feel such a variety of different emotions, but with each different theme Ward interweaves into her tale, I found myself affected in a different way. I found myself yearning for love, burning with a desire for knowledge, horrified by the cruelty of people, filled with fear at ancient evil, and more.
At the heart of Rawblood is Iris and her relationship with her family mansion, the eponymous Rawblood. Living in the early 20th century, she lives a reclusive and sheltered existence with her father, believing she suffers from a congenital disease. However, something much more sinister is at work in Rawblood. Ward tells the story of Iris' family in a non-chronological order, hopping back and forth to different family members and different times. There is a 19th century doctor fascinated with the qualities of blood, a quiet heiress who knows she is always on the verge of death, a soldier witnessing the horrors of World War I, a young woman with powers close to the supernatural... there are so many characters whose lives come together to form the story of Rawblood, both the mansion and the novel. Each character is fascinating and allows Ward to explore different moments in time. She can address war, gender, medicine, love, class, all the topics that make for great stories. A lesser author would have eventually lost the thread of their own novel, but Ward masterfully binds all these characters together and makes their stories crucial to that of Iris. You will have to pay attention to follow all the different things Ward throws at you, but she rewards that attention and dedication at every turn.
It's not very difficult to blow me away with amazing writing, but I always find myself extra stunned when I realise a novel is a debut novel. Rawblood is Catriona Ward's first novel, but her writing is incredibly confident and commands attention. She captures the voices of each of her characters, whether it's 11-year old Iris or a WWI soldier. Ward also manages to capture the way an inner voice speaks. Now, stay with me here for a second. There is a way in which your thoughts work, how your mind jumps around, how it speaks to you in phrases rather than complete sentences. Ward captures that, the fractured nature of the mind, not just in the fractured way she tells her story but also in how she relates her characters' stories to us. I can't entirely explain it, but once I got used to it I found it utterly breathtaking. As said above, I kept fearing she would lose the plot, that the novel would derail somehow, and yet it never did. There are so many twists and turns, moments that make you go 'No way!', and yet it all clicks into place perfectly. I can't wait to read Rawblood again because I know I'll get something different and new from how it all comes together.
Yup, I love Rawblood! From the first chapter, Ward completely captivated me and even when I wasn't reading I was thinking about her novel. Rawblood was an emotional roller coaster, giving you everything and then making you sit there while it all gets taken away again. Rawblood is much more than a horror story and I can't recommend it enough!
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2017/07/review-rwblood-by-catriona-ward.html
Once I finished Rawblood I tried to tell my housemate about it but I didn't even know what to lead with. Rawblood is many things. It's a historical fiction novel and it's Gothic horror story. It's about a girl but it's also about a family. It's full of evil and guilt, but filled with love. Ward set herself up for a major challenge with this story but somehow manages to bring all these different themes together into one stunning narrative. It is not often that a novel can make you feel such a variety of different emotions, but with each different theme Ward interweaves into her tale, I found myself affected in a different way. I found myself yearning for love, burning with a desire for knowledge, horrified by the cruelty of people, filled with fear at ancient evil, and more.
At the heart of Rawblood is Iris and her relationship with her family mansion, the eponymous Rawblood. Living in the early 20th century, she lives a reclusive and sheltered existence with her father, believing she suffers from a congenital disease. However, something much more sinister is at work in Rawblood. Ward tells the story of Iris' family in a non-chronological order, hopping back and forth to different family members and different times. There is a 19th century doctor fascinated with the qualities of blood, a quiet heiress who knows she is always on the verge of death, a soldier witnessing the horrors of World War I, a young woman with powers close to the supernatural... there are so many characters whose lives come together to form the story of Rawblood, both the mansion and the novel. Each character is fascinating and allows Ward to explore different moments in time. She can address war, gender, medicine, love, class, all the topics that make for great stories. A lesser author would have eventually lost the thread of their own novel, but Ward masterfully binds all these characters together and makes their stories crucial to that of Iris. You will have to pay attention to follow all the different things Ward throws at you, but she rewards that attention and dedication at every turn.
It's not very difficult to blow me away with amazing writing, but I always find myself extra stunned when I realise a novel is a debut novel. Rawblood is Catriona Ward's first novel, but her writing is incredibly confident and commands attention. She captures the voices of each of her characters, whether it's 11-year old Iris or a WWI soldier. Ward also manages to capture the way an inner voice speaks. Now, stay with me here for a second. There is a way in which your thoughts work, how your mind jumps around, how it speaks to you in phrases rather than complete sentences. Ward captures that, the fractured nature of the mind, not just in the fractured way she tells her story but also in how she relates her characters' stories to us. I can't entirely explain it, but once I got used to it I found it utterly breathtaking. As said above, I kept fearing she would lose the plot, that the novel would derail somehow, and yet it never did. There are so many twists and turns, moments that make you go 'No way!', and yet it all clicks into place perfectly. I can't wait to read Rawblood again because I know I'll get something different and new from how it all comes together.
Yup, I love Rawblood! From the first chapter, Ward completely captivated me and even when I wasn't reading I was thinking about her novel. Rawblood was an emotional roller coaster, giving you everything and then making you sit there while it all gets taken away again. Rawblood is much more than a horror story and I can't recommend it enough!
For full review: http://universeinwords.blogspot.com/2017/07/review-rwblood-by-catriona-ward.html
threethousandducats's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
daniy's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
I absolutely love and adore a good puzzle story, putting together all the hints everything I just love it, and Rawblood is so beautifully done, its amazing.
Its not a 5* because it felt something was....dragging in some part, I cant put my finger on it, it wasn't until 40% in that I was sure I was gonna finish it and not just dnf it!
The first chapter is the weakest imo, but its also really important lol, so don't be like me and actually pay attention.
I absolutely love and adore a good puzzle story, putting together all the hints everything I just love it, and Rawblood is so beautifully done, its amazing.
Its not a 5* because it felt something was....dragging in some part, I cant put my finger on it, it wasn't until 40% in that I was sure I was gonna finish it and not just dnf it!
The first chapter is the weakest imo, but its also really important lol, so don't be like me and actually pay attention.
stitching_ghost's review against another edition
DNF at 14% couldn't get into it, the overabundance of "papa" just got on my nerves too much. No rating.
zosiablue's review against another edition
5.0
This was great. A witchy time-traveling queer ghost story. A little Kate Atkinson, a little Shirley Jackson, a little all the author’s own thing. It read very classically gothic but felt modern. Super compelling and twisty and beautiful. (Beware that there’s some horrific animal cruelty in this. It doesn’t feel gratuitous but it’s hard to read.)
mcerrin's review against another edition
Any other time I may have pushed through this book. But right now, it's part of my fright fest book month and it is SO BORING. So I have to stop. Maybe I'll revisit another time.
casimiera's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25