Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

86 reviews

raechel's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.5

This was an absolutely fascinating read about a horrible historical event. I realized I knew almost nothing about the Donner Party, and this book really walked the line between informative and narrative description. We follow Sarah Graves, a young, recently married woman following her family west on a doomed trek.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism

rosa_lina96's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

One of my coworkers is actually distantly related to the Donner party--evidently one of her grandfathers was invited on the trip and (maybe wisely) decided not to go--and the information she's told me about the terrain in that part of California and the artifacts that still remain got me intrigued enough to check out this book. I loved Boys in the Boat by the same author, so I thought I would thoroughly enjoy this one as well.

And I did. But holy crap, is this book not for the faint of heart. It tells you more details about how starvation works than you'll ever want to know. It goes into excruciating detail about the challenges the early settlers faced, even before any of the calamities that happen to the Donner Party actually start happening, to the point where you start wondering why any sane person would want to load everything they own into a wagon and set off into untamed and stupidly rugged territory. These people have to have more mental fortitude than me. After the first canyon where they essentially had to bushwhack their way along the entire route, I would have gone "whelp, I don't think this route is all it's cracked up to be, I'm actually quite comfortable being where I am now, sayonara" and turned my ass quite thoroughly around. To know that they kept persevering, kept going even when every single odd seemed stacked against them, was both inspiring and a little sobering.

It followed the trend I've seen in a lot of disaster books, too--the idea that if just one of a multitude of factors was changed, maybe it wouldn't have turned out quite so badly for everyone involved. Maybe if they'd never taken the shortcut that was proposed in the first place, it wouldn't have turned out the way it did. All we can do is guess.

Overall, this was a beautifully descriptive and haunting book that made me appreciate the little luxuries we take for granted in our modern world (and made me want to visit that part of California sometime soon, but only in the dead of summer when the weather is halfway decent). Highly recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Murder and Animal death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

daishaspencer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This is one of the most gut wrenching and horrific stories I’ve read. I found myself moved to tears many times placing myself as a young woman in the shoes of Sarah and her companions. The author wrote beautifully of the scenery in which the party found themselves, I could clearly see places I’ve never been (though I had to reference google maps a handful of times). This story is not without bias from the author, but no narrative non-fiction truly can be. This book has left me with a lasting impression of a story which I knew little about before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, Gore, Body horror, Animal death, Murder, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Racism, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

kmaemiller's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Colonisation, Violence, and Child death

taylordnelson's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Death

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

alexcribbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

Not for the faint of heart. I learned about the Donner Party in school but definitely not in such detail. The author does a good job of painting the picture not only in terms of setting, but also in terms of the physical sensations they were likely experiencing throughout. A tough but interesting read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Death

Moderate: Child death

sare1125's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism, Gun violence, and Violence

Moderate: Murder and Racism

Minor: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and War

cooknick's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

I expected not to like this book for two reasons: 1. I thought I knew anything important there is to know about the Donner party, and 2. I read a lot of crime and survival stories, but I draw the line at tales of cannibalism. However, this was my book club's selection, so I read it. And I'm glad I did. 
Brown did a masterful job of putting the reader into the time and culture of the Donner party, to such an extent that I was kept in suspense, rooting for all to survive, even though I know how the story ends.
History has much maligned the Donner party, often turning the story into a sick punchline, but Brown restored the group's humanity in a way that I found moving and inspiring. This is among the best survival novels I have read. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child death, Death, and Cannibalism

weboury's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

cccannFantastic book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Confinement, and Sexism

sarahbroccoli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

3.5

Check TWs this was a harrowing book. Loved the empathy and thoughtfulness that the author employed when discussing the Donner party and the central theme of hope and perseverance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Cannibalism, Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent