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thefabnp's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? Yes
5.0
leisurelyloner's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
taralikesbooks's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Omg what a book. I never knew about the history of residential schools in Canada. This book broke my heart into a million little pieces. 💔
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Racism
Moderate: Addiction
thisisuru's review
I will return to this book, but right now I am not in the right headspace to properly process what this book holds, it is an important read and one I want to gully commit to in the future.
dinasamimi's review against another edition
4.0
Great storytelling and character development. I was engrossed in all these people's lives and wanted so much more for them and more time with them. Kenny's and Howie's removal stories broke my heart to pieces. Clara's healing journey will stick with me for a long time. And Lucy is just a beacon through it all. I hope everyone reads about the trauma -- familial, economic, cultural -- that members of Native Nations went through and continue to go through in the name of European mythology and destruction.
ryner's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Based on the real stories of victims of Canada's Indian residential schools, this is heartbreaking historical fiction centered on five lives completely altered and permanently damaged by the physical and psychological abuses they suffered at the hands of the government and the church.
Far from feel-good, this is a feel-bad book. It is heavy. I was flooded with perpetual feelings of dread from start to finish, as it becomes apparent from the first pages that the characters are going to suffer misery and trauma they will never be able to escape. And, unsurprisingly, the perpetrators never saw justice. I would recommend this novel to anyone who can handle it, though, as it's important, and acknowledging atrocities of the past is one way to help ensure that such horrors would be prevented from happening again.
Far from feel-good, this is a feel-bad book. It is heavy. I was flooded with perpetual feelings of dread from start to finish, as it becomes apparent from the first pages that the characters are going to suffer misery and trauma they will never be able to escape. And, unsurprisingly, the perpetrators never saw justice. I would recommend this novel to anyone who can handle it, though, as it's important, and acknowledging atrocities of the past is one way to help ensure that such horrors would be prevented from happening again.