Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice

10 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

Waubgeshig Rice returns with an equally quiet yet bold sequel that continues to explore the meaning of “post-apocalypse” to Indigenous peoples. This time, though, it is to consider what comes after. Following the same Anishinaabe community from Moon of the Crusted Snow, the sequel takes place a little over a decade after the blackout, and the community must address their dwindling food resources. As a result, a small scouting party of six, led by Evan Whitesky, is formed to venture into the unknown and find a new place to call home. More specifically, they decide to return to their ancestral home.

I admit that I found the first third of the novel to be a little too slow, but thinking back to my overall reading experience, I’m realizing that this was Rice laying out the foundations to build up to an intense series of events. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it was explosive in action, but the sequel definitely felt more intense to me as a result of the stakes being higher. On a different note, something that struck me about this novel was the ongoing theme of reclamation (at least, that was how I understood it). Years after the blackout, nature reclaimed much of the land that was once taken by settlers. Relatedly, I felt that Rice was reclaiming Anishinaabe culture with how he presented beliefs and traditions throughout the novel, particularly emphasized by the untranslated conversations in Anishinaabemowin between characters and the way they looked towards the future of the Anishinaabe people. While colonialism wasn’t explicitly discussed, the blackout gave them the chance of restoration. There were moments that threatened this chance, which I interpreted as an allegory to the numerous attempts to erase Indigenous cultures and histories, but Rice makes clear that they will always survive and will always be present.

The novel has been marketed as a standalone, but I think it would really help to read the first novel to really understand Rice’s themes and why this sequel was written the way it was. Overall, this was more of an intense read than I expected it to be, while still maintaining a sense of quiet that resulted in a rather reflective reading experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Grief and Suicide

Minor: Cannibalism, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Years after the events of Moon of the Crusted Snow, the survivors need to try and find their people a new place to live.

This was a fantastic sequel. It was like a simmering pot, slowly getting hotter. It was vivid and beautifully written. I enjoyed it immensely.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Cursing, Grief, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

raptorq's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Racism, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Colonisation, and Death of parent

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Cannibalism

sarmcp's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Waub did it again, folks: just like last time, I could not put this book down for the life of me. I was so overcome with emotion by the end that I had to give in to a good cry - that kind of investment is no small feat for an author to achieve. If Moon of the Crusted Snow remains my favourite novel, this one is a close second. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Gun violence, and Death

happyunicorn7's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Violence

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Animal death, Hate crime, and Death of parent

Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Gore, Suicide, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Genocide

Minor: Drug use, Terminal illness, Ableism, Alcohol, Child death, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Excrement, Grief, Stalking, and Medical trauma

Mo residential schools.

islayfraser's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Racism

Minor: Racial slurs, Suicide, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Grief

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

4.5 stars

I loved the experience of reading this book - despite the constant stress and tension. 
And hearing Rice talk about this book at the Ottawa Writer's Fest made the reading experience even more special as he discussed some of the themes of the book and the experience in writing it. 

Despite the tension and stress of the unknown (and uh, scary encounters), it's ultimately a hopeful book about learning to reconnect with the land, live in a good way, and return to your cultural roots - spiritual and geographically.

Because most of the book follows our 6 walkers as they traverse Northern Ontario down to the Georgian Bay, the nature writing is a focal point. And Rice's nature writing was wonderful. I could so easily picture every landscape in my mind, and felt like I was walking alongside our characters (though thankfully I was not in the same danger they were). Nangohns was a delightful character to have as a POV - seeing her experiences as someone who's really only grown up post-event and also still maturing into an adult, was special. I felt like she was a guiding star for the rest of the characters and the plot.

I also think he did a great job showing through interpersonal interactions and character descriptions that the real sickness/cause of this apocalyptic event is white supremacy and the desire for power. Folks who live well, are respectful of the land and each other, and rely on community for support are happy, healthy, and hold good relationships. In comparison, white folks who are racist and mean, hell bent on power through murder, are clearly falling apart physically and spiritually. It's a stark and well-crafted contrast. 

And that ending... it's what I expected and I sobbed through the last 5-10 pages. It's so sad but also hopeful. Sheer poetry.

Knowing that Evan managed to arrive in the lands of his ancestors where the birch trees grow, and experience it for such a short period of time before dying... that hurt my heart. He was a favourite character from the first book and seeing him achieve his goal of finding his family and community's ancestral and future home but not being able to live there with them... masterfully done story-wise.

If you read Moon of the Crusted Snow, I urge you to read the sequel - it's well worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicide and Grief

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book was a little bit slow for me at first, a lot of day to day descriptions of travelling, and a few of the side characters feel like they're just there to pad out the team (sorry Tyler) but overall a great hopeful post apocalyptic story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Violence, Gore, and Suicide

Minor: Misogyny, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Pregnancy

There are threats of rape and allusions to women kept as “concubines” by the militia but no rape occurs on page.

saara_ilona_muu's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking