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danielle_sips_tea'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
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Drug use
Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Car accident, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Blood
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit
thesapphiccelticbookworm'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: Genocide, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Sexual content, Child abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Racism, Addiction, Child death, Death, and Confinement
Moderate: Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Medical content, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Animal death
Minor: Bullying and Death of parent
mpbookreviews's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Addiction, and Violence
schwelo'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? It's complicated
5.0
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
linw21's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, and Child abuse
jozefinkak's review
- 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
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.
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
amberinbookland's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
brenticus's review
- 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
But that's only by comparison, and it does nothing to invalidate the truth in these stories. The stories of these five former residential school students are distinct yet interconnected. They all went to the same school but left at different times, sometimes linking up with each other and sometimes not. The vignettes of their lives focus in on aspects where we can see the continued traumas that affect them, and while some can find peace later in life many don't get that chance. We see their struggles in school, their struggles in life after release, the struggles of their families after they're taken and after they return, the struggles of the families they find and create... This is, first and foremost, a story of Indigenous people struggling to deal with the effects of residential schools, regardless of whether they actually went to them.
Other than my comparison of tone to Jonny Appleseed, my only real gripe is that the pacing of this book is very uneven. The timeline lurches around and we don't always see characters starring in their stories often enough to really follow how their life goes. It's common for someone's POV to end on a bit of a cliffhanger and then jump to someone else, somewhere else, possibly sometime else, and it's not always a clean jump back into their story.
Still, if you haven't read a book like this, or at least heard stories from people who experienced the residential school system, you should absolutely read this. It's a powerful, emotional account of just how the Canadian government's policies, along with the Church's methodologies, caused misery for so many people.
Graphic: Addiction, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Racism and Cursing
Minor: Gore, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Vomit