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nellamaneiro's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
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? N/A
4.5
Toews’ storytelling is clever and inventive. The book is told through the eyes of a man, which I was first confused by, but Toews’s writing quickly convinced me it was the best choice. This book achieves an imagined re-telling of true events that feels so authentic. I was expecting a depressing read, but found the complete opposite. It describes a patriarchy so cruel it makes you question God, but the women are somehow able to make sense of it and separate man’s evil from God’s will. Their faithfulness is not the end of them. Overall a fascinating exploration of the thousands of social ties that force women into complex decision-making and paradoxical philosophy.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse and Incest
alyssa2012's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Slavery, Incest, Infidelity, and Self harm
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Fire/Fire injury
yoe's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed the audiobook.
I originally started reading it as an ebook and I enjoyed the very beginning but it is a slow, character-driven so I ended up putting it down for a while. But glad I got the audiobook. There’s little plot so it’s a hard book to recommend but it still felt like a powerful story
I originally started reading it as an ebook and I enjoyed the very beginning but it is a slow, character-driven so I ended up putting it down for a while. But glad I got the audiobook. There’s little plot so it’s a hard book to recommend but it still felt like a powerful story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse
diothyst's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
This book should be a deeply reflective, poignant narrative of the complicated feelings/emotions of multiple women coming to terms with what has happened to them, the questions they raise about their faith and its interpretation, and their struggle to determine how to address the matter in a short time frame is instead a view into the mind of a man of the colony. The book lacks any true look into the women, and you are instead bombarded with August's thoughts and opinions, his nonsensical metaphors/analogies, and his desperation for anything Ona does to be romantic towards him. He completely overshadows the women in the book and often his own experiences and troubles become the focus during situations. He is an unlikeable narrator and in turn many of the women become unlikeable when we are not given the proper chance to view the happenings through their eyes and why they are reacting the way they are. For what the book is about, it greatly misses the mark on what it could have been.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
emma_likes_plants's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse
bookdragonkatie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Child abuse
Moderate: Violence, Vomit, Suicide, and Pregnancy
singingsfun's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Favorite quote from the book:
“Leaving would give us the more far superior perspective we need to forgive, which is to love properly and to keep the peace according to our faith. Therefore, our leaving would not be an act of cowardice, abandonment, disobedience, or rebellion. It wouldn’t be because we were excommunicated or exiled. It would be an extreme act of faith.”
This book is heavy, depressing, infuriating, empowering, hopeful, sometimes funny, and full of faith. And I love it!
“Leaving would give us the more far superior perspective we need to forgive, which is to love properly and to keep the peace according to our faith. Therefore, our leaving would not be an act of cowardice, abandonment, disobedience, or rebellion. It wouldn’t be because we were excommunicated or exiled. It would be an extreme act of faith.”
This book is heavy, depressing, infuriating, empowering, hopeful, sometimes funny, and full of faith. And I love it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Rape, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Suicidal thoughts
maxgold's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I want to note that the characters are not diverse in the sense they are all Mennonite (presumably white or at least all the same race) women. But they’re diverse in the sense of views and personalities. Meaning incredibly diverse in those sense. The author really does an incredible job at showing how not all people in a religious cult are going to think in the same way. Their motives are all similar, yet their drive is very diverse. Their reactions are diverse. It really dirigés the book I think.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
Minor: Transphobia, Suicide, and Death
laceystairs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Wow! This book was not what I was expecting. It is heartbreaking and also somehow hopeful. Exploring the options of a group of women as they come up with possible solutions to a devastating problem which has been affecting their community. The female relationships in this story are the center and the soul of the book, but it is also about how the women relate to the men, children, and outside world around them. I think that everybody should read this book, even though it deals with difficult subject matter. It's important. It's a story that needs to be shared.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Self harm, Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Incest
electricshe's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely gripping. The weight of what’s happened to these women, as well as the decision before them, falls like an immediate weight on your shoulders. Yet the crimes are described only to give context to characters’ motivations, and only when necessary. The point—which shines tremendously—is the women talking, thinking, arguing, and working together (even when they are at odds) to understand what is right for them. It’s an incredible single-setting story with characters who are all reasonable and relatable (as well as often quite likeable) but still differently-minded on how to approach the choices in front of them. I’ve never read such an expertly balanced and poignant cast of characters.
Some people don’t like the male narrator character, August, as they feel his perspective and character arc take away from the female voice, I guess. But I think he’s important. This part may get a bit spoilery, so stop here if you like. He is a useful contrast both to the women and the other more traditional men of the colony. Rather than feeling like his narration muddied the women’s voices, I felt like he creates a layer of removal from the women that is necessary for the reader to have—since we don’t know them, really—and views the proceedings with a sort of sacredness and deference. He also acts as a bridge for the reader to enter this world that many of us know little about, since he is something of an outsider himself.
You can see his constant thoughts about Ona, his relation of their asides, his overall meekness and awkwardness, and his odd anecdotes as all very off-putting. So that on one hand the women are contending with brutal and powerful men and on the other a pathetically self-pitying one. One wonders, when Ona has been raped, is pregnant, and is facing the very serious decision of whether to uproot herself from the only life she’s ever known, how she could possibly be entertaining this chemistry he feels between them. I don’t think she really is, personally. But maybe she is. Because these women—all women—have the capacity to be angry, to take action, to laugh despite horrors, to love even in hardship, and to be caring even when they themselves are in need of care. It doesn’t take away from her character if she does have affection for this man who, despite being odd, is not disparaging, patronising, cruel, or treacherous. He can’t help being the main character of his own life, he can’t help loving a woman who is good and kind. What I think is powerful about his position as the narrator of the story beyond all that is that he doesn’t matter. His own revelations and growth aren’t earth-shattering (or even revealed) to the women, and their story continues without him. Whether or not Ona loves him, her path is not about him.
Some people don’t like the male narrator character, August, as they feel his perspective and character arc take away from the female voice, I guess. But I think he’s important. This part may get a bit spoilery, so stop here if you like. He is a useful contrast both to the women and the other more traditional men of the colony. Rather than feeling like his narration muddied the women’s voices, I felt like he creates a layer of removal from the women that is necessary for the reader to have—since we don’t know them, really—and views the proceedings with a sort of sacredness and deference. He also acts as a bridge for the reader to enter this world that many of us know little about, since he is something of an outsider himself.
You can see his constant thoughts about Ona, his relation of their asides, his overall meekness and awkwardness, and his odd anecdotes as all very off-putting. So that on one hand the women are contending with brutal and powerful men and on the other a pathetically self-pitying one. One wonders, when Ona has been raped, is pregnant, and is facing the very serious decision of whether to uproot herself from the only life she’s ever known, how she could possibly be entertaining this chemistry he feels between them. I don’t think she really is, personally. But maybe she is. Because these women—all women—have the capacity to be angry, to take action, to laugh despite horrors, to love even in hardship, and to be caring even when they themselves are in need of care. It doesn’t take away from her character if she does have affection for this man who, despite being odd, is not disparaging, patronising, cruel, or treacherous. He can’t help being the main character of his own life, he can’t help loving a woman who is good and kind. What I think is powerful about his position as the narrator of the story beyond all that is that he doesn’t matter. His own revelations and growth aren’t earth-shattering (or even revealed) to the women, and their story continues without him. Whether or not Ona loves him, her path is not about him.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, and Pedophilia