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sarahbethhh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The love and care that went into FKD was one of a kind — and unfortunately I didn’t see the same in WGU. The character development and relationships felt flat. It was difficult to care about the characters because they just didn’t feel whole. The plot felt both rushed and dragged. In a lot of ways, it felt weirdly unfocused.
However, the subject matter is so important and I am so grateful Boulley approached it from this angle. I learned a lot about a subject that’s often danced around or completely ignored. Making this topic accessible within a storyline that appeals to readers of various genres is not a feat to dismiss. While it wasn’t my favorite work from Boulley, I’ll absolutely be recommending this one for others.
Graphic: Death, Racism, Grief, Child death, Kidnapping, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
k_bang96's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Death, Murder, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Genocide
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Rape, Hate crime, Self harm, Vomit, and Death of parent
cass_lit's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, and Cultural appropriation
cookiecat73's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I loved the characters and the themes, thought they were very well handled. The prose was easy to read, flowed well, the sort I'm able to fly through and read lots at once. The only thing stopping me from doing that was how heavy the book was, and even despite that I read it in 2 and a half days.
Some books like this have some sort of emotional climax that I have to pause the book at to cry. That didn't really happen to me with this book. Instead I found myself tearing up at what felt like every other chapter.
I read the blurb for this book when I was around the half-way mark, thinking that it was unlikely to spoil anything that far in. It absolutely did. I guess I'm more spoiler-sensitive than most people, but wow, did they really need to tell you that in the blurb? the thing you're meant to read before trying the book? oh well.
Some thoughts about something that is kind of spoilery:
There isn't really anything in this book that I feel able to critisize. There's nothing I want to take out or completely do over. But there are a lot of moments where I think something could be added. In general I just wanted more from the book. I loved following these characters and their lives, and there are so many times when the narrative skips a few days and all we hear about them is a quick summarry from a character. I would have loved some of those days to have been included in the book. It feels like a lot happens off-page, and I know the book is fairly long already, but personally, I would have loved it longer, to have it include those days and moments it skims over. I think seeing some of that would have made the story feel more real and whole to me. (not that it felt not real or not whole! I loved the book, I mean just as an improvement.)
The other main thing I would add is more time for the emotions. Again, there are no descriptions of emotions that I would do differently or take out, but I want more. So many traumatising things happen, there are so many moments when our characters are clearly very shaken up and struggling, and personally, I think the narrative could have done with giving the emotional impact more time and space. Sometimes giving only the bare minimum in describing the characters reactions and feelings feels like a great intentional choice, but I think here we needed a bit more. We are told our main character cries a lot (which is good!) but I would have liked more descriptions of her feelings in those moments. And again it's where we skip over hours or days and processing happens off-page. I think that can work great if it's because the character barely remembers it because of how traumatising it was, but again, I think too much was left out and skimmed over in this case.
The ending and resolution too, feel a bit too fast and rushed for my taste. And I'm left a little confused over some of the things that happened, though I'm not sure if that's something the book did wrong or if not understanding was on me here.
[the "critism" about emotions is the one I stand by here the most, the others I think are very much personal taste, as it's something I've noticed happen quite a bit with books I read. my reviews are always about my personal enjoyment of books though, so I'm still mentioning them!]
Overall though, I loved this. I will absolutely be reading FIrekeeper's Daughter and probably any more books that the author writes if they look like the sort of book I like
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Car accident, Confinement, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Murder, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Biphobia, Colonisation, Gore, Homophobia, Medical content, and Outing
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Animal death, Sexual violence, Bullying, Cannibalism, Dementia, and Police brutality
rape is discussed more than just in passing but is not showngood_names_dont_exist's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Kidnapping, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, and Cursing
Minor: Police brutality and Rape
lokes's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Police brutality, Grief, Colonisation, Cursing, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Car accident, Kidnapping, Cultural appropriation, and Sexism
Moderate: Death of parent, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Racial slurs, Sexism, Alcohol, Addiction, Medical content, Misogyny, and Murder
applejuiceinabox's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Grief, Kidnapping, Cultural appropriation, Death, Genocide, Violence, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Racism, and Murder
cassielaj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Genocide, Death, Grief, Murder, Racism, Confinement, Violence, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault
Many of the violent events technically occur off page, but discussions of rape, death, and the treatment of Indigenous people were disturbing.hilary_v's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Violence and Murder
Minor: Rape
moniipeters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence