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ruthypoo2's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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? It's complicated
5.0
An interesting and emotional postapocalyptic story about how life on a reservation might be affected in a world where modern conveniences like electricity and public services were lost. Naturally, there will be certain lifestyles better equipped to live in this kind of world, including those where people already respect an inter-generational cultural structure and have the knowledge and experience of how to survive by respecting and cultivating natural resources. This lends itself to indigenous communities that are primarily confined to a sprawling reservation landscape, and central to this story is the Anishinaabe community of Canada's First Nation.
I was impressed at the realistic way in which the characters of the story assessed and responded to the changed world they found themselves suddenly living in. Unfortunately, the nature of man seems to be one of seek and divide and conquer, so it's no surprise when the story's Anishinaabe community find themselves confronted by non-reservation people who are looking for a new place to call home where they will have a chance to live full and productive lives. How the Anishinaabe respond is heart-warming but costly to the community.
The author, Waubgeshig Rice, expresses the many layers of the First Nation people. While all seem to have knowledge of the teachings of their ancestors and natural capabilities to survive in a world missing the usual comforts, not everyone has the sound mind and responsible work ethic their elders tried to instill in them from a young age. The cultural experiences and beliefs are beautiful and lovingly included within the narrative of the story. And their area also parallels between what's happened in the past when white settlers invaded First Nation lands and how this type of greed can replay in a world where boundaries have been blurred. It was a story that captured my interest from start to finish and I genuinely cared about everyone in this story.
I listed to the audiobook and very much enjoyed the clear dialect and reading of the narrator, Billy Merasty. At first, I wasn't sure if his voice suited me, but I quickly became accustomed to his sound and I normally listen on 1.75-2X speed, so that helped eliminate any drawing out of the spoken word that I might otherwise find a little off-putting. This is another example of when I really want to hear the pronunciation of words I'm not familiar with, and Mr. Merasty ably provided that for me.
I was impressed at the realistic way in which the characters of the story assessed and responded to the changed world they found themselves suddenly living in. Unfortunately, the nature of man seems to be one of seek and divide and conquer, so it's no surprise when the story's Anishinaabe community find themselves confronted by non-reservation people who are looking for a new place to call home where they will have a chance to live full and productive lives. How the Anishinaabe respond is heart-warming but costly to the community.
The author, Waubgeshig Rice, expresses the many layers of the First Nation people. While all seem to have knowledge of the teachings of their ancestors and natural capabilities to survive in a world missing the usual comforts, not everyone has the sound mind and responsible work ethic their elders tried to instill in them from a young age. The cultural experiences and beliefs are beautiful and lovingly included within the narrative of the story. And their area also parallels between what's happened in the past when white settlers invaded First Nation lands and how this type of greed can replay in a world where boundaries have been blurred. It was a story that captured my interest from start to finish and I genuinely cared about everyone in this story.
I listed to the audiobook and very much enjoyed the clear dialect and reading of the narrator, Billy Merasty. At first, I wasn't sure if his voice suited me, but I quickly became accustomed to his sound and I normally listen on 1.75-2X speed, so that helped eliminate any drawing out of the spoken word that I might otherwise find a little off-putting. This is another example of when I really want to hear the pronunciation of words I'm not familiar with, and Mr. Merasty ably provided that for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Violence, and Addiction
linneak's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Alcohol, and Gore
Minor: Cannibalism and Colonisation
amanda_marie's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I don’t often read books with such suspense, but the author did a fantastic job of building it slowly and steadily. Even when I knew what would come, I still felt the suspense and horror the moment deserved. The suspense was balanced with a layered commentary on colonialism that grounded the book and was informative without overbearing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Gun violence
Moderate: Violence, Racism, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
queersubtext's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Cannibalism
derschnauzbart's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Cannibalism, Animal death, Suicide, and Racism
lasafica_reads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Genocide, Grief, Violence, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Cannibalism
cepbreed's review
dark
emotional
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? No
4.5
“The world isn’t ending,” she went on. “Our world isn’t ending. It already ended. It ended when the Zhaagnaash came into our original home down south on that bay and took it from us. That was our world.”
Holy shit. I was assigned this book as a part of my Indigenous Pop: Anticolonialism and Genre Fiction class and I never expected to love it so much. The building tension nearly had me shitting bricks. The way this book reads is perfectly timed with the rate at which the Ojibwe are also gaining more knowledge about their predicament. Sure, going into this book I knew it was apocalyptic fiction, but that never took away from the slow build of dread as the winter got colder and the electricity continued to stay shut off. I have an exactly equal amount of love and hate for the fact that the last couple chapters are so vague.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Cannibalism, Death, Animal death, Murder, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, and Racism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Medical content, and Violence
Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
krispy_reading's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Very atmospheric writing. Characters dealing with “dominos falling one by one” type plot.
Wonderful storytelling. I would recommend the audiobook so you can hear the spoken native language in some dialogue scenes.
Wonderful storytelling. I would recommend the audiobook so you can hear the spoken native language in some dialogue scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Cursing
Moderate: Racism, Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, Suicide, and Death
Minor: Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
bittennailbooks's review
dark
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
“Yes, apocalypse. We've had that over and over. But we always survived. We're still here. And we'll still be here, even if the power and the radios don't come back on and we never see any white people again.”
If you are a fan of "The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones, here is your next read. For being from 2018, Rice certainly predicts the future of post-pandemic ideologies, mass panic, and bleak survival. A devastating read about a power outage in a remote reserve and the surrounding area. This book does an incredible job about discussing the impacts of racism, residential schools, community, and trauma within the stories context of survival.
Thumbs up: One thing I've been sitting with since finishing this surprisingly short book is Rice's incredible way of not demonizing those who have been deeply impacted or removed from traditional ways of knowing. That there were serious and ongoing impacts of colonization and fleshes out the reasons that the conditions and plot (without spoiling it) resulted in how they did in the novel. The discussions of how ripping one from one's culture creates a reliance on oppressive structures that lead to the novels incredible conclusion.
Thumbs down: If you're looking for romantic prose, you will not find it here. The writing is very straight forward and overtly descriptive. However, that's certainly not a turn of for me with this novel.
Was it a nail biter? Absolutely, I devoured this book in one sitting and think it absolutely deserves space on your shelf at home.
If you are a fan of "The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones, here is your next read. For being from 2018, Rice certainly predicts the future of post-pandemic ideologies, mass panic, and bleak survival. A devastating read about a power outage in a remote reserve and the surrounding area. This book does an incredible job about discussing the impacts of racism, residential schools, community, and trauma within the stories context of survival.
Thumbs up: One thing I've been sitting with since finishing this surprisingly short book is Rice's incredible way of not demonizing those who have been deeply impacted or removed from traditional ways of knowing. That there were serious and ongoing impacts of colonization and fleshes out the reasons that the conditions and plot (without spoiling it) resulted in how they did in the novel. The discussions of how ripping one from one's culture creates a reliance on oppressive structures that lead to the novels incredible conclusion.
Thumbs down: If you're looking for romantic prose, you will not find it here. The writing is very straight forward and overtly descriptive. However, that's certainly not a turn of for me with this novel.
Was it a nail biter? Absolutely, I devoured this book in one sitting and think it absolutely deserves space on your shelf at home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Spoiler content warning:juliej0715's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.25
Really good, didn't want to put it down. Very thrilling and fast paced. Sometimes confusing and sometimes over-narrated in the beginning. Even the epilogue has a twist. Great winter book
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Cannibalism and Alcohol