Reviews with content warning for Adult/minor relationship - The People in the Trees

i spent the whole book looking for clues in the text and footnotes about what would happen later on, thinking all the scientific info and stuff about phillip tallent perina would be important to then get to the end and realise it was just an autobiography rather than a mystery. and i was wondering why include such information about a mythological turtle which provides immortality if the last 50 pages are going to have nothing to do with this plot, if immortality will in fact play no role in it - but i realised it was norton's going to the island that would cause its destruction, cause him to have to adopt the children, and give him opportunity to do what he did. so the turtle plot was just a set up for the main plotline - which is a metaphor for and criticism of colonisation

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morimyths's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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kaitlynjeon's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.75

This is an all too familiar tale of the perils and relentless violence of colonialism, capitalism, and the West for the sake of “progress” (at the cost of everything for its victims). It has tackled moral relativism and the dangers of its misinterpretations in an engaging manner. I appreciated the refreshing format and completely one-sided perspective dripping with a delusional sense of objectivity and self-righteousness that appalled me. It was a throughly twisted, challenging, and abhorrent read, not something to read just for fun in any way but left an incredibly strong impression that has encouraged me to think about the themes at greater depth. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

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mayscue's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

Read the content warnings before even considering this book. (Spoilers in this review although it kind of is obvious from the beginning) I wish I could understand what other people liked about this book. Unfortunately it was simply too gross, too graphic, and too repulsive to enjoy really any of it. I don't know what the author wanted me to gain from it. I practically wanted to vomit after reading the end, and there was almost nothing good about this book except for some of the explorations which were largely overshadowed by the sexual abuse of minors, oddly racist language, and the most disgusting main character I've ever read. Wish I had abandoned this book earlier but I didn't know the final epilogue would be so graphic. I think you can accomplish plenty of literary goals without sexual violence against children, but I guess that's just my personal opinion.

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lizart520's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I do not recommend this book. I finished it not because I wanted to but because I felt I had to. And now I would like to forget I read it. I loved “A Little Life” but this was hard to read. Not just for the subject matter but just hard to read.

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