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emygrl99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Dementia, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
inirac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Transphobia, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
miabee12's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Lesbophobia
kind_taylor's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Blood, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Gaslighting
flowchelle'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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism
deliberate_dreamer'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? Yes
4.5
• Gone Girl-style regionalism/pacing (minus, thankfully, the depths of sadism),
• Baby Sitters’ Club Mystery girl-power nostalgia (leveled up for their original fans now grown),
• Thoreau references to appreciate & chuckle at, and
• multi-decade elite entourages & class commentary à la The Great Gatsby’s Buchanans.
In The God of the Woods, Liz Moore cinematically carries out a solid, multi-perspective, multi-timeline organizational style. Character development balances intentional voice-building with ownership of its clichés. The God of the Woods also nicely works to subvert expectations of the semi-thriller/mystery genre while intuitively exploring generational submission vs. empowerment, as well as issues of patriarchy vs. matriarchy, legacy, classism, mental health, instinct, and closure. I found at least 90% page-turning and worth 4.5+ stars — but at times longed for the author to take more chances or make things messier even more.
Are all of the characters likable? At times, all them I detest; other times, all of them, I appreciate in their own way. All of them earn their keep. As I read, I chuckled often to think to one GoodReads review noting so much dislike for the characters that they declared “Let her be lost; let all of them be lost, actually” (@brend). In answer to that review, I sense this aggravation was intentionally part of Moore’s goal: to generate in us Gatsby-level disgust for the whole lot, yet challenge is to preserve their humanity, too.
All in all, I found this to be an engaging, mostly-satisfying read. It was also the first time my library surprised me a rare “skip-the-line loan” of an e-book, so cool!
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
maestro_cerrotorcido's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol
christianaskaar's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
carousel's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Vomit, Dementia, and Lesbophobia
aekaitz's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Grief
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Lesbophobia