Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

12 reviews

crondeau_yvr's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I didn’t care for the narrator of the audiobook & wish I had read the book instead. Great story but difficult to hear. The Canadian government and the church have a lot of blood on their hands. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, and Colonisation

rebeccai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Suicide, Sexual violence, Child death, Pregnancy, Addiction, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Colonisation, Genocide, and Grief

abbie_'s review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.75

Finished this one on Friday and it was a tough one but very necessary. With Five Little Indians, Michelle Good tells the stories of five residential school survivors, before, during and after their lives are irrevocably altered by the horrors of the Canadian institution. It’s told from the perspective of all five characters and flits around so we get to know their lives before the residential school, although the main heft of the novel is the five doing their best to live after they’ve been released into the world. It is truly disgusting how these ‘schools’ would steal young children away from families, strip them of their Indigenous heritage, often inflict unthinkable abuse, and then just cut them off once they come of age, left to struggle in the real world with no preparation or support. They do have each other, as this book highlights, and that’s all they have to cling to in a world that wants nothing to do with them. Michelle Good demonstrates how deeply trauma buries itself into the psyche of all five characters, to devastating consequences like alcoholism, mental illness, violence and even suicide. The writing is quite spare, but it grew on me quickly and I don’t think this is a topic that needs dressing up or sugarcoated.

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Difficult to swallow, but a must for understanding the horrors of Canadian residential schools.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Physical abuse

schwelo's review

challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I knew this book would be heavy and it was. But the characters are so relatable and the storytelling so compelling, that I couldn’t put it down. Trauma takes many different forms in this story, but there is also survival, hope, healing & community. If the boarding schools were a rock thrown in a lake, this book is the story of all the ripples that spread out across the water’s surface. Excellent book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Cursing, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Rape, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Suicide

bnelson13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

A beautifully written, absolutely heartbreaking story. I can't even begin to put into words how Five Little Indians has made me feel while reading it. The absolute horror of the residental schools and what the survivors went through, and their struggles just to heal and try and live a decent life after is just crushing. An amazing read, the stories were captivating. Be prepared to cry.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicide, Alcoholism, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

moyra's review

emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Rape

thazell's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This was such a heart-wrenching book about the residential schools and the effects they had on people afterwards. It's about trauma and healing. This made me cry on multiple occasions and definitely left me with a heavy heart; it touches on many dark and sensitive subjects.

The characters felt real, it was like I was reading a non-fiction story about a group of people's lives which made it all that much harder. I cried for these characters who suffered from such a horrible event and I hoped for their healing from their trauma. My favourite from the perspective was definitely Lucy and her story. The only complaint I have for this book is that the story jumped around in a way that made it difficult for me to read and would pull me out of the story, it felt as though the timeline was all over the place. Otherwise, the perspective was cool and I loved seeing how they would interconnect and the different stories would come together.

This story will have a special place in my heart and I will continue to remember this event that has affected my culture and people, it deserves to be remembered and this story did amazing at that.

*Read the TW's before reading this book*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape

susanknights's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Torture

reading_rainbows's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Child death, Colonisation, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racism, and Sexual violence

jozefinkak's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

A beautifully written heart wrenching yet heart warming book. A must read for all settlers on Turtle Island. 

I enjoyed the easy style of writing and the varying perspectives of the characters, which made me care deeply for them all. Michelle Good did
an amazing job of relaying what these characters went through without resorting to graphic detail. Beautifully subtle. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit