Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

33 reviews

mariebrunelm's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

An Indigenous bookshop ghost story, what more could you ask for?
In The Sentence, Louise Erdrich weaves the ordinary (as mundane or heart-wrenching as it can be) and the supernatural to create a rich tapestry of contemporary life as an Indigenous person in the USA, with a strong emphasis on community and a balance between darkness and light.
Tookie is a very grounded person, an ex-convict now working in a bookshop owned by… a certain Louise. They have their regulars, each one with their habits and particular tastes in books. One of them, Flora, dies at the beginning of the story, but she doesn’t seem ready to leave the bookshop.
Once the situation is set, the author sets out to detail the daily life of the bookshop and its daily haunting, through the eyes of a gruff but very endearing character, Tookie, who is very flawed but very loveable. I loved the balance of her prose that walked the line between prosaic and spiritual. In short chapters, she captured vivid scenes and interactions that made this book highly entertaining even though not a lot was happening. The touch of the supernatural was very welcome to add another dimension to the book. It was also very informational about Indigenous people living in Minneapolis and its surrounding area, without feeling like you were taught a lesson.
On the whole, this book felt very intentional, and forced me to slow down to savour every bite, which is very rare for me. I was in no rush to see what was happening next, and it brought me a lot of peace even though some parts were harrowing. I highly recommend this nuanced and multi-facetted book that holds a lot in a very readable format.
Rep: Indigenous characters, bi MC.

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jodie_dc's review

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

2.0


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sgrifgirl's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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megdye487's review

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.25


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stephe's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

The Sentence is beautifully, lovingly written, capturing the power that books and stories and memories have to reveal deep and painful truths—about ourselves, those around us, and our worlds. It also faithfully captures a moment in Minneapolis (and the world) in which deep pain and patterns of systemic abuse came bubbling up and out into the streets, all in the midst of the darkest times of the Quarantine Era. Having lived in Minneapolis during most of these events, it was hard to read at times. And yet, Tookie and the whole cast of characters brought so much life and depth and joy to the story that I finished it with hope that, together, we can reckon with that which haunts us and welcome healing into our lives.

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mouseyhare's review against another edition

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funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

I don't know how to describe this book. Even though it took me 3 whole weeks to read, every time I picked it up it felt easy. Even though it's about COVID and George Floyd and people dying, it's still funny? It's weird.  It's not a happy book but it's not sad either. I recommend it.

I am bad at adding content warnings because I'm not sure how to describe them or how graphic they are but I tried to cover the ones I remembered. There is a pretty detailed description of the main character smuggling a dead body and her incarceration afterwards which I don't think is an option to mark in Storygraph. Oy.

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eyreickson's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0


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greenan26's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

3.0


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thislibrarylife's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful mysterious 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? Yes

5.0


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ajamwelch's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.75

I think this is one of my first dips into, what I would consider, magical realism. I loved the bookstore setting and the influence of books in so many of the characters lives. Did not realize this was going to take place primarily during the pandemic, so definitely a warning for those who do not wish to revisit that. Overall, an absolutely wonderful read. Great characters, great writing style, and great atmosphere. 

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