Reviews

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

nat3780's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

li_gao's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Racism, Gun violence, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Addiction, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

lsparrow's review against another edition

4.0

I continue to enjoy this author - I love his characters his sense of compassion while still naming the evils for what they are. I also love stand alone sequels which this is.

kingarooski's review

4.0

This is a beautiful crafted novel about a family in northern Ontario pulled in two directions: traditional first nation life and modern life. Will and his nieces are inadvertently pulled into a life of drug dealing and violence, ending in one of the nieces going missing and Will lying in a hospital, in a coma. Through flashbacks and Annie, Will's other niece, telling him her side of the story the story is slowly filled in. I loved this book, I loved reading about the lives of native Canadians and how destructive the influence of drug gangs can be. Joseph Boyden describes the physical setting beautifully and truthfully. A moving and powerful read.

shaetea's review against another edition

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? Yes

3.75

liked it more than the orenda but it's been a while.  overall interesting read as i really enjoy reading about indigenous communities and just took a class where my prof had spent a lot of time in the james bay area so was excited to see it through the eyes of a fiction novel!

90sinmyheart's review against another edition

2.0

Took forever to read because it only really gets going in the second half.

ridgewaygirl's review against another edition

3.0

This is the story of the Bird family of Moosonee, Ontario as told in the form of alternating chapters from the point of view of Annie and her uncle, who is laying in a coma in the local hospital. Moosonee's way up there near James Bay and is inaccessible by road. Will is a former bush pilot with a drinking problem, and he cares deeply for his friends and family and tries to teach his nieces about tribal traditions and how to survive in the wild and unpopulated lands around James Bay. Annie was always less popular than her sister, but when Suzanne disappears in Toronto, she is determined to find her and bring her home. Suzanne had run away with a man with connections with the drug trade and the gang members are out for revenge.

I began this book with great excitement. Who doesn't want to read a story of life on wild edges of Canada? But a large portion of this book isn't set in northern Ontario, but rather in New York, where Annie becomes a model and party girl. These sections feel more like a series on the CW and fit uneasily with descriptions of setting up a winter camp on James Bay or on the daily life of the inhabitants of Moosonee. I felt like I was reading two different books, one of which I had very little interest in. Likewise, the vengeful drug lord plot, which was too much of a thriller and took away a lot of the strength of the book as a whole. I think that half of this book was fantastic and the other half sheer drudgery. I'm sure many people would love to read a book about a partying model, but they aren't necessarily the same ones who would enjoy a book about ordinary people living in a cold and wild place.

hedread's review against another edition

5.0

Absolutely loved this book. So evocative. Two of the three Bird Family trilogy are 5 stars.

kimcheel's review against another edition

3.0

I guess I'm doing the Bird Trilogy in reverse, since I read The Orenda last year. As problematic as The Orenda was, I still think it was a bit more interesting than this one. Perhaps it was because I listened to this on Audible, but I had a really hard time following the time line. Sometimes it's good to see the punctuation in that regard! And did I miss it, or did we find out what happened to Suzanne?

lizaroo71's review against another edition

4.0

Will Bird lies in a coma as the story unfolds. His niece, Annie, visits daily and sits and talks to him. She tells him her story of how she left their small town in search of her sister Suzanne. Both Will and Annie has something missing in their hearts because they have suffered losses. Each searches for something to take the place of that loss and it is this journey we get in the book.

Boyden keeps tension throughout the novel and is adept at keeping the alternating chapters intriguing and cohesive.