Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

12 reviews

jodie_dc's review

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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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Police brutality, Addiction, and Pandemic/Epidemic

danimcthomas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

4.25

A wild swath of a book that covers so many issues in such a beautiful and nuanced way. Erdrich is a master.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Racial slurs, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Violence, and Homophobia

Very embedded in the 2020 timeframe - so if that time (COVID & the civil unrest re: racism) is still painful to recall, I would avoid this book.

rae1019's review against another edition

challenging emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Animal death, Child abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking

laurasullivan's review

emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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: Panic attacks/disorders and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Mental illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Slavery, and Racism

voitkira's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Mental illness, and Racism

samlikesbooks's review

emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Racism, Addiction, and Mental illness

megansmith's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

I really loved this book - as much as I wasnt sure about briefly reliving 2020 again through a fictional retelling, I did find this story to be a really thoughtful reflection on the pandemic and George Floyd’s murder. The writing was a perfect mix of beautiful description but direct as well. I was so captivated by the story. Loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Police brutality, Murder, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Colonisation

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.

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

libbyhb's review

emotional funny hopeful 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

THIS BOOK blew me away. I knew I liked Louise Erdrich's writing style, but that's only based on The Round House, so I didn't know what to expect with The Sentence. I loved this book SO much. Tookie is one of those characters that sticks with you for a long time. Her somehow meandering AND pointed trains of thought added so much to the story. I also appreciated the nuanced way it showed Tookie's relationship with her Native identity and then how that differed from the other Native people in her life (Pollux, Louise, Asema, etc). And of course, the way that the white people in their lives (especially Flora) interacted with and stole/exploited their culture. I liked that it was very much grounded in real life events (although I can see why others might not), specifically the beginning of the pandemic and then the aftermath of George Floyd's murder. It felt like Erdrich was documenting a specific time in the community she lives and loves, and we got to come along and peek into her thoughts and meditations on the events. So in that respect, I felt like it came out at the perfect time. Just loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Mental illness, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement and Police brutality