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readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Body shaming, and Cancer
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Addiction, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Drug use, Murder, Suicide, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia
Colorism, missing person, r slur.sarahemhavens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
4.0
More specifically, the topics that I found most moved by were the talk of ‘westward expansion’, the destruction of native peoples and cultures, whitewashing and gentrification, western medicine vs herbal medicine, and the mistreatment and objectification of women.
Of the eleven stories, my favorites were:
Remedies
Tomi
Any Further West
All Her Names
Ghost Sickness (this one shook me most)
Biggest takeaway quotes/thoughts for me:
- “afraid of letting any amount of death work its way into me”
- “that was the first time that I missed someone while sitting right next to them”
- “Sabrina was to forever face ceilings and casket tops padded in pink satin”
- white people (“Generations of tragedy free living”) steam rolling over native culture, destroying their lands and throwing up concrete gentrification jungles that only erode years later in our failing society. (The us’ history and mistreatment of peoples never fails to devastate me, nor should it - we should constantly be reminding ourselves and educating ourselves, not try to brush anything under the rug like we tend to in the us)
- “people, we learned, weren’t permanent and neither were their sicknesses”
- “maidens strapped to railroad tracks and cowboy heroes shot dead” (“heroes”)
- “money comes with chains”
- “you make me feel full, I’m heavy with you”
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Cancer, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Racism, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Classism
Moderate: Colonisation, Fatphobia, Genocide, and Pedophilia
spinesinaline's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
A lot of the stories were about abuses against women, from extreme physical abuse to systemic discrimination. As I’ve talked about before, this is one of my least favourite topics in books so it turned me off at first, especially as I hadn’t heard this about the stories from all the hype I’d seen for this collection. Still, the author’s strength in writing shines through so they were still enjoyable to read.
One point to mention, there were several uncomfortable uses of outdated terminology relating to Indigenous peoples. I assume part of this is due to the time period the author has set these stories in but I don’t think it was necessary.
Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
Moderate: Addiction, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Medical content, and Pedophilia