971 reviews for:

The Break

Katherena Vermette

4.34 AVERAGE

alannaclara03's review

4.25

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

amreetaa's review

3.5

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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-Beautifully writing, poignant story about women and community 

-The plot kept me engaged however I did find it predictable and it was difficult to keep track of all the characters 

-Also a tough read because it includes a brutal sexual assault 

parasitech's review

4.5

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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: Complicated

iznetto's review

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A warning to everyone that this story includes the brutal rape of a child, which is why I stopped reading it. Filed under abandoned.

melaniesolar14's review

5.0

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Beautifully written

helen_is's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

grayjay's review against another edition

4.0

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Terribly sad and poignant. An indigenous family rallies around an unspeakable tragedy, and remembers tragedies of the past and the ties to find them together.

christine_exlibris's review

5.0

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This is a very important story about a group of Métis women in Winnipeg who experience trauma and the results of that trauma. Not easy to read some of the passages because of the suffering inflicted but it certainly gives an Indigenous perspective on how Indigenous and Métis women are generally treated by the dominant Western-Euro society in Canada. It also gives a very clear point of view of many of the women's daily realities.

Vermette writes deftly and poetically as she interweaves the stories and perspectives. If you're a Canadian woman, Indigenous or non-Indigenous, this is a must read and very important. It's in the running for Canada Reads right now and I sincerely hope it wins.

justalilkim's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-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: Complicated

missbradleys_bookcart's review

5.0

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I really enjoyed this book. It was a tough and dense read, but I really liked that the time frame of the setting allowed the characters to interweave through generations. The setting of north end Winnipeg makes the story really relatable and readers might connect to the descriptions of the neighbourhood and city. If I was to booktalk this I would have to provide a warning as it starts out with a brutal sexual assault but the novel is about so much more than that. It is about family, community, loss, heartbreak, friendship, poverty, gangs and their affects. The story and its characters are held together by the connections they all have to the victim. I would suggest this as an option for upper high school students because of the sexual assault, but I would be naive if I believed that this kind of violence is something that our young adults are not aware of, know someone who has been a victim or have been a victim themselves. I have not read any of Katherena Vermette's other work but I will definitely be adding A Girl Called Echo to my "to be read list."