Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

12 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Car accident, Gaslighting, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Stalking, Colonisation, Mental illness, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Drug use, Pedophilia, Incest, Infidelity, and Rape

yaoipaddle's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

(Would have been 3 stars but the ending disappointed me enough to move it down to 2.)

I picked this book up because I saw Margaret Atwood recommend it, I'm interested in reading more books by indigenous authors, and I love werewolf adjacent creatures. (The one in this story is a rogarou.)

The setting and the scenes between Joan (main character) and her family are so well written and make me perfectly visualize everything. The small details in character interactions and the places they visit or live in make everything feel so alive and immersive.

One thing I had to get used to is that at least early on the author uses so many pronouns when we're still being introduced to the large cast of characters. I had to reread passages a few times to organize in my head who was doing what or saying what. I'm not sure if the writing got better about naming who did what or if I just got used to it as the book went on.

If you read this book please be aware of the large amount of sexual content most of which is quite graphic. The sheer amount of it in what is a mystery novel surprised me and tbh annoyed me. Everyone other than the kid characters are constantly talking about sex, thinking about sex, or having sex. To the point where I'm just waiting for it to be mentioned yet again in every chapter. Everyone is so freaking horny and most of it is so purposeless to me. Even if you like having sexual content in anything you read, the content in this book feels so out of place so often.

The pacing for most of the book was pretty good. The plot is interesting and gives just enough mystery to make you feel interested but not overwhelmed. And just when I thought the pacing was going too fast I realized that it was pretty well planned!

However by the last few chapters of the book it felt very rushed and everything was a bit to convenient just to wrap the story up.

(There is one scene where Joan travels somewhere, gets angry at something that tbh I felt was just to add conflict and not representative of how she has acted throughout the book, and then gets over it in a couple paragraphs and drives home. :/ Useless.) The last two chapters especially just felt annoying and almost like the author wanted to end on a cliffhanger instead of be content with the story she already finished.

I also felt let down and like some important characters were introduced too late with zero prep and just gone as soon as they came. (No pun intended considering all the sex in this book).

Overall an immersive setting and cast with a fun mystery to keep you on your toes. This all is dragged down by out of place sex and rushed pacing at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Grief, Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Infidelity, Colonisation, Animal death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Alcoholism

Minor: Trafficking, Stalking, Murder, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book wasn't what I expected bc I thought it was gonna be more on the traditional, melancholic missing persons stuff (Book Riot misleading recs strikes again for me lol) but this is a fantasy almost fairy tale like adventure with Indigenous culture and issues thrown in for cohesiveness, and funny to boot, so it was even better. I wasn't too impressed with the writing at first but the author won me over. I was even handling the Evangelical Christians bashing in name of anti capitalism and all that bc even though I believe in God I'm aware this religion is beyond help until that weak ass unnecessary last minute drama reveal ending and the kid

being turned into a damn rogarou wtf

, it was so annoying! But I really enjoyed the story and Joan's quest and her love for this dude (and Victor's for her, very swoony) for like 90% and how as plot driven and fast the story is it also felt immersive and didactic for me as a reader outside of the community. It was fun reading these characters and appreciating their culture. Only the ending robbed it from being completely amazing to me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, and Body shaming

Minor: Abortion, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault

kinomatica's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Gaslighting, Grief, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Abandonment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Animal death

Minor: Racism, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

eclareb's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Torture, Sexual harassment, Racism, Death of parent, and Violence

onemamareads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

Read my full review here: https://onemamassummer.weebly.com/book-reviews/empire-of-wild

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Incest

mommarex1221's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

4.0

A solid re-imagining of Red Riding Hood, is a fun read, especially around Halloween.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, and Violence

burnt_amber89's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I quite enjoyed this book. I loved reading about the Rogarou and the depiction of this tale from a Metis perspective. I loved the fact that the author didn't explain exactly what the traditional tale was: it kept some sort of mystery, while making me feel part of the community by assuming I knew.
The social commentary embedded in the story is particularly enlightening. 
That being said, the writing style was sometimes a little slow, and I was thrown off by the points of views switching from one character to the next. 
I am still processing the ending, I applaud its audacity, but maybe it's a little too abrupt ? The jury is still out on this one. 

Overall, I think I would recommend this book, it's an easy read, quite gripping sometimes, albeit a little unequal. Great book to get acquainted with traditional folklore and current social issues in indigenous communities. Some violent and/or frightening passages that may make it unsuitable to all audiences (especially at night...). Be sure to check out the trigger warning list before embarking on the journey. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Grief, Racism, Stalking, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

 - EMPIRE OF WILD on one level reads as a wild mystery adventure, but look a little closer and it's actually a tale of the horrors of colonization.
- This book is full of messy characters (some of whom I thought could have stood to have a little more page time) and you're rooting for Joan the whole way. I was turning pages as fast as I could, and the final showdown had me gripped.
- The ending seems to have people split, and I can see why - if you read this book, come talk to me about what you think happens! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Stalking, Sexual assault, Racism, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Homophobia