Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

32 reviews

sgbray's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Racism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

tmazzzzzi's review

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Drug use, Racism, Addiction, Sexual violence, Rape, Racial slurs, and Hate crime

velamik's review

emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Racism, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Torture

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

gray_birch's review

emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

The book as a whole is pretty good it helped me gain a farther understanding of what it was like to indigenous people after residential school but I do have to that, the book is kinda jumpy in the time line like this happened oh now its a year later kind of thing. The characters there was some character development mainly at the end and some were more developed than others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide, Death, Grief, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Alcohol, and Child death

danielle_sips_tea's review

challenging dark informative 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

nasvans's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Drug use, Drug abuse, Cultural appropriation, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

katietotallybooked's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.0

I am happy that I can finally say I've read this book. I also understand why it won the Canada Reads competition in 2022. I do believe it is a must read for Canadian readers.

Liked Most:

• How each of the character's storylines intertwined, even when it wasn't obvious that would happen from the beginning. 
• How different each character's story was. Their experiences were varied and how they handled their traumas varied. I think this helps make the book more representative (while still fictionalized) of the many shared histories of our Indigenous community. 

Liked Least:

• The timeline of the story felt unclear while I was reading, and I found it hard to follow at times because there was so many characters to keep track off.  

Themes/Topics:

• Residential Schools
• Indigenous History
• Child Abuse (Physical, Sexual, Emotional)
• Grief
• Loss of Innocence
• Suicide

Would Recommend To:

• All Canadian adult fiction readers
• Those interested in Indigenous lives, experiences, and histories

The audio is well done too!

Quotes:
“…she told me she was sorry about my mom. I didn't know, but she didn't need to say more. I had so many dreams at the Indian School about going home to her. Dreams about sleeping safe in my own room, playing on the beach at ease and without fear, and cooking with her. What I so desperately needed was to be standing on that stool by the stove, carefully stirring under her watchful eye like when I was little. To be little again, living without fear and brutality-no one gets that back. All that's left is a craving, insatiable empty place.”

“Kenny walked along the meandering creek, enjoying the sound of it when it narrowed and quickened, the peace of it when it widened and slowed, deeper and quieter, the rusty-coloured stones casting a sparkling copper tone on the crystalline water. There was a bitter sweetness in seeing his old friend. He was happy to share their tricky survival memories; it was the other ones, the ones that slipped in through the silences, that he was relieved to lose in his usual solitude.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief

hologlam's review

dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Genocide, Child death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, Child abuse, Addiction, Colonisation, Pedophilia, and Police brutality