Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

31 reviews

sarah984's review

hopeful reflective 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

5.0

It's hard to know what to say about this book. It feels like I read it at the perfect time. A lot of heavy content is covered (incarceration, identity, reckoning with historic violence, as well as the events of 2020 as they occurred in Minneapolis) but the tone is hopeful overall. Despite some of the strange situations the characters feel grounded and real, and their conversations gave me lots of food for thought. I did think some of the stuff with the niece felt a bit unnecessary but overall fantastic book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, Mental illness, and Racism

Minor: Gun violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, and Rape

This book deals with the events of 2020 (particularly the pandemic and the George Floyd protests) in significant detail. There are also several scenes involving the mistreatment of human remains that I'm not sure how to warn for.

prettycloud's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

This book feels like the pandemic: just when you think you've found the rhythms of normal life, you feel the uncertainty as threads come loose bit by bit until the whole thing unravels. It's a powerful look at the way that unraveling gave people in the US a new understanding of our own complacency, caused people to question the facts of life we'd come to accept. The energy that flowed into anti-racism work in that summer of 2020 feels vibrant and real in this book without being too trite. And it does not shy away from the nuances of systemic and interpersonal racism!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Police brutality, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, Body horror, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Torture, Slavery, and Sexual content

Minor: Colonisation, War, and Racism

This book addresses the horrors of colonialism and historic wrongs, but it doesn't twist the knife or delight in violence. The characters in the present experience common experiences during the first year of COVID, from generalized pandemic anxiety to

police violence and hospitalization from the virus

. The main character had previously endured police and other violence during her incarceration, which she describes in the beginning of the book and which forms part of a later conflict. No one in the present tense of the book abuses drugs or alcohol, but the main character's mom was an addict and neglected her, and she does describe this.

literarylion's review

challenging emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

Pros:

• Erdrich is just a beautiful writer, no matter what she writes. The composition is exquisite.
• The characters are well-developed and feel real
• An interesting take on the ghost trope

Cons:

• The plot was a bit scattered -- it seemed like it wasn't fully done coalescing, but there was probably pressure on her to publish while the pandemic was still happening/fresh in peoples' minds
• The first half and the second half seem like very different beasts. The pacing was a bit uneven.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Racism

Minor: Animal death and Cursing

carireadsbooksandtarot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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

 

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich 

Narrated by the author 

 

4.75 Stars 

 

This is the first novel by Louise Erdrich that I have read and yes, it is worth the hype. Erdrich’s writing is just so beautiful and her characters are so human. In fact, she herself is a character in this book which takes place in her real-life bookstore in Minneapolis. The narrative takes place over one year from the end of 2019 to the beginning of 2020, which may be too close for comfort for some people. It doesn’t shy away from what was happening in that very specific moment in history. The characters in this book struggle with and respond to the events of that year while a timeless story of a haunting weaves through it. Erdrich somehow covered so many issues in this nuanced portrayal of a native woman and her family and coworkers. But it’s done in such a masterful way- this isn’t trauma porn or a call to action, or a scolding. It’s simply the story of Tookie, an indigenous woman with a difficult past, being haunted by a former customer in a bookstore. Sprinkled throughout are references and recommendations (from Tookie to her customers) of books and authors and I was so pleased to find the list available online. I always adore when authors read their own audiobooks and this was no exception. I love knowing that every line of dialogue is delivered just as Erdrich heard it in her head while writing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Drug use, Racism, and Medical trauma

unusualsnowunicorn's review

funny tense

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Drug abuse

Minor: Police brutality and Medical content

elizalavenza's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, and Death of parent

julied's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Police brutality, and Drug use

madradstarchild's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Racism, and Police brutality

Minor: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Drug use, Death of parent, and Drug abuse

amandabcook's review

emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Drug use, Medical content, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, and Xenophobia

ange_'s review

emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, and Police brutality

Minor: Slavery, Racism, and Cultural appropriation