Reviews

Poor Deer by Claire Oshetsky

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skaitanti's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Beautifully written, magical realism, fairy-tale-like, fever dream of book that touches on guilt and grief, especially through that of a child. Incredibly sad and miserable, however. Please mentally prepare for the various types of abuse between mother and child. There isn't a single likeable adult on these pages and that is not to be understated. I really can't emphasize this enough. I was physically yelling while reading some of these chapters!

Oshetsky's writing is intriguing and very atmospheric. Sooo creative. Don't think I've read a book quite like Poor Deer. This novel feels like sitting alone in a quiet space engulfed in fog and smoke. Just only the faint sense of anxiety as you're unsure just how safe you are, but you can't be in too much danger, right? It's just a little fog.

One of my only critiques is that towards the end I think the narrative got a little lost, it wasn't as strong as some of the beginning chapters, but it's enough to keep you going until the end.

I can't sit here and say I enjoyed the book; not in that typical "I-Need-To-Tell-Everyone-To-Read-This-Now" kind of way; bleak and horrid as it is, I do not enjoy reading about little girls being misunderstood, the minor droplets of ableism here and there, how uncomfortable her mother made me... But goodness is this a read.

azlanm's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

danipooo's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gertrude22's review

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

anything_for_now's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

caseythecanadianlesbrarian's review

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My god, do I love Claire Oshetsky's writing:

"She loves her next-door neighbour, Ruby Bickford, and doesn't know it, because such a love lies just outside the window of Florence's imagination...She works at the downtown lunch counter, where she gives free pie slices to all the single men, because she still has ambition."

Their trademark odd combination of straightforward prose and everyday magic is present again in this story about grief, parenting, regret, childhood, fate, and the stories we tell ourselves about our lives. This book is sadder and more melancholy than Chouette (highly recommended by me, by the way) which has more of an edge of (motherly) anger and fierceness. Poor Deer actually has a very opposite portrayal of motherhood, one where the mother really ultimately fails to support her kid.

A beautiful book, but bring your tissues.