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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very confronting but excellent. Captures the different characters so well, and I really like how the characters' arcs aren't all tied up and resolved. It feels very real.
That content warning is not exaggerating. It's handled sensitively, and I particularly like how Emily ultimately tells her own story.
That content warning is not exaggerating. It's handled sensitively, and I particularly like how Emily ultimately tells her own story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Racism, Rape
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Alcohol
This one had me hooked right away, and then it was difficult to get through. It was a good one for me because I haven’t read any books from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and I knew nothing of the word “Métis.” It was heartbreaking throughout, so that made it difficult for me to stick with, as well.
I read this in a day — a well-crafted, yet haunting story with characters you’ll think about after you’re done reading. It has many perspectives, but it’s not hard to follow as some other reviews suggest.
The Break is the story of a close community of Métis women in Winnipeg and their encounters with violence. The story alternates from the perspectives of various women all connected through family and friendship ties. When a terrible incident of violence happens to one of them, they draw together even closer.
We also get the point of view of the perpetrator, but what's so unique is the sympathy I felt for the one who did the violence. Rather than look at the good vs the bad guys, this is another book that looks at the history that leads people to violence as well as the brokenness that happens when we reject our family and community. The message seems to be that we are stronger together with our family and community around us.
We also get the point of view of the perpetrator, but what's so unique is the sympathy I felt for the one who did the violence. Rather than look at the good vs the bad guys, this is another book that looks at the history that leads people to violence as well as the brokenness that happens when we reject our family and community. The message seems to be that we are stronger together with our family and community around us.
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It means so much to have people. It is everything. I have been so fortunate.
I tagged this as hopeful because of the last two chapters but not gonna lie I found this book so depressing I dreaded picking it up because I knew I'd be in a bad mood when I set it down.
A story about the impacts of intergenerational trauma and the importance of community unfolds through a weaving narrative as many members of a family and community navigate the ripples of a horrific crime.
I think this book was well-written and impactful, and I do feel the ending softens and brightens the reading experience. I like the ending and the message of hope and resilience in spite of all the world can throw at you. But oh my gosh, the world has a lot to throw. It's hard to read knowing that so many people's real lives are shaped by the scale of traumas depicted in this book and must find a way to move forwards, hopefully without causing further harm themselves. For the vast majority of the book I just felt so much sorrow for so many of these characters, and even though it ends on a hopeful note, you leave knowing that no amount of resilience and hope can completely wash away the weight of grief and the harm that has already been caused. That's what it is to live, I guess.
I believe in hope and I believe that it is only through community that we can carry on through the horrors.
It was interesting that the Phoenix chapters were SO invested in her fatness? I guess maybe partially it was foreshadowing but also she has always been fat apparently so it just felt a bit weird to be scrutinizing her body so intensely. I get also that if we are supposed to be inside her head, it makes sense, but I also feel like other characters perceived her fatness in a very overt and disproportionate way. I'm not sure what that offered the story and I'm not sure how I feel about her size being so often subtly tied to her behaviour and characterization.
I thought it was an interesting choice to tell a story with so much male violence but to have the central, cruellest act of violence committed by women.
I tagged this as hopeful because of the last two chapters but not gonna lie I found this book so depressing I dreaded picking it up because I knew I'd be in a bad mood when I set it down.
A story about the impacts of intergenerational trauma and the importance of community unfolds through a weaving narrative as many members of a family and community navigate the ripples of a horrific crime.
I think this book was well-written and impactful, and I do feel the ending softens and brightens the reading experience. I like the ending and the message of hope and resilience in spite of all the world can throw at you. But oh my gosh, the world has a lot to throw. It's hard to read knowing that so many people's real lives are shaped by the scale of traumas depicted in this book and must find a way to move forwards, hopefully without causing further harm themselves. For the vast majority of the book I just felt so much sorrow for so many of these characters, and even though it ends on a hopeful note, you leave knowing that no amount of resilience and hope can completely wash away the weight of grief and the harm that has already been caused. That's what it is to live, I guess.
I believe in hope and I believe that it is only through community that we can carry on through the horrors.
It was interesting that the Phoenix chapters were SO invested in her fatness? I guess maybe partially it was foreshadowing but also she has always been fat apparently so it just felt a bit weird to be scrutinizing her body so intensely. I get also that if we are supposed to be inside her head, it makes sense, but I also feel like other characters perceived her fatness in a very overt and disproportionate way. I'm not sure what that offered the story and I'm not sure how I feel about her size being so often subtly tied to her behaviour and characterization.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse
This book was exactly what I look for. Strong characters, an overarching plot that keeps you hooked, but the characters and their backstories hold your interest just as much. There was lots of heavy material in this book but it wasn't exploitative and was handled very well. I can't wait to read The Strangers.