Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin

10 reviews

__l's review

I got 75% of the way through this book and absolutely lost interest. The twist and slow reveal makes absolutely no fucking sense, I feel like I missed four chapters of context. I couldn’t follow what was happening at all. I hate it when authors make me feel stupid because I don’t understand the plot after the drop the floor out from under you. I made it through a handful of chapters and narrator changes after the big plot twist, hoping it would make sense. It did not. 

What the fuck did I actually read?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Child death

npmbimbo's review

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

Really good and mysterious at first, loses steam gradually then all at once. Could have ended much sooner than it did lol

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence

luverbyrd's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Just when you feel like it's strange, it gets stranger then stranger and then weird to the point of "what the heck is happening!?". Eventually it makes sense. For me I sort of was on the right track but definitely threw me for a loop with the truth. I'm not going to say much because it is definitely best to go into this as blind as possible, because what a ride it took me on.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Sexual content, Gun violence, Death, and Child death

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.25

This was my first Justin Cronin, but I am interested in reading his others after reading this. This felt very mid-tier to me and most definitely written by a man, the portrayal of women in this book was probably its biggest disappointment. 

Otherwise, this was a passable dystopian sci-fi with an interesting twist and ending that I wasn't expecting. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, Violence, and Child death

kdelong's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Police brutality, Child death, and Suicide

amhud1030's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Police brutality, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Grief, Suicide, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident, Dementia, Alcohol, Confinement, Classism, and Infidelity

jaygabler's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Thank you Random House for the free book, a bighearted science fiction novel that makes an easy beach read, complete with nautical flavor — and an Iron Range reference on page 516 of 538.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Violence

ripxw's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, and Death

booksthatburn's review against another edition

From the first page, THE FERRYMAN felt like mint chocolate cotton candy: a novel flavor combination which initially is a heady experience but eventually feels bland in its sameness. It’s startling at first, because it’s a flavor which does not normally belong in cotton candy and seems at first like a cool idea, but ultimately contributes little to the conversation of what makes a tasty dessert. I do not, generally speaking, want the book equivalent of cotton candy, but the writing is gripping and the world was interesting at first. 

Ultimately I stopped reading when the bland misogyny became too frustrating. In a world where every marriage is a contract with a time limit (the parties can renew), it makes no sense for the main character to have a level of jealousy and possessiveness that in the real world is cultivated through an assumption of monogamy as a default. I read an ARC and so will refrain from using quotes in case the final version changes substantially, but this was a setup I've read before executed in a way that was frustrating to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Blood, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content, Dementia, Alcohol, Drug use, Excrement, Infidelity, and Infertility

jaimee_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Review to come

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Police brutality, Infidelity, Classism, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gore, Gun violence, and Dementia

Minor: Abandonment