Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

6 reviews

culpeppper's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.5

This was a truly unique book for me. I loved getting to know the setting, the family dynamics, and the community relationships in the beginning as dread slowly seeped in with the cold. I think a lot of authors don't use weather as a storytelling tool enough, and this story confirmed that I really appreciate when it's a core part of the story. I appreciated the main perspective of Evan, a devoted father, loving partner, and loyal community member who still had flaws and a personality beyond his relationships. The antagonist, or at least the physical embodiment of it, was foreboding from the moment it is introduced, and threats to the community as the cold presses in feel real; the stakes and tension rise slowly but the story doesn't drag. Instead, it drops in on important conversations and focuses on narrating plot or character moments for us rather than having us slog through every day on the rez. 

While I don't mind Rice's telling and not showing for instances where we’re getting caught up to speed on certain things, sometimes the writing does feel more like it's telling us what the character is feeling rather than showing us what they're doing and having us decide what the character might be feeling. This wasn't so apparent if sentences were longer, but in the bits between dialogue we’re often told how characters react and what emotion that reaction comes from. Another gripe is the kids are basically pieces of furniture with names but I'm more surprised when I find a novel that does kids well. In general, there were a few characters and plot elements that could have been built more— at times, it felt hollow or, in the case of certain characters, unfinished. So if you're looking for a tight, no questions left unanswered this is not that kinda story. Me, I don't mind it enough to care too much. 

There were a lot of beautiful moments interspersed between the hard and traumatic ones. The balance is maintained well, and it offers hope to readers when needed. While the pain characters felt was always there, it never felt overly traumatic or too much. 

Overall, I really did enjoy reading this and got through it quick, and it was a really interesting premise and execution of this genre of story. I'm looking forward to becoming more familiar with Rice's other work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Alcohol, Cursing, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Racism, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, and Gun violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Addiction, Cannibalism, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Other: guns (not specifically always in gun violence way), smoking cigarettes/tobacco, fatally freezing conditions, animal hunting/butchering, institutional racism, starvation, threats of violence, poverty, corpses, intergenerational trauma, suffocation descriptions. Many of the triggers are embedded in the structure of the character's world, or appear in dream sequences. Death of Parent:

Aileen dies part of the way through the winter in her bed. Evan is shot in the final chapters.

tetrootz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Gore, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Cannibalism, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Cancer

lyndsay_bibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Moon of the Crusted Snow is a slow burn, with a beautifully eerie setting, rewarding patient readers with its nuanced portrait of community, resilience, and uncertainty. The build-up is masterful, heavy with foreshadowing. Rice subtly paints a picture of their simple, resilient lives, making the impending disaster feel all the more chilling.

As unease creeps in and grocery shelves echo the eerie panic of the pandemic, you know something big is brewing. The constant anticipation is gripping. This is a book that begs to be read in the heart of winter, its stark prose mirroring the frozen landscape.

While undeniably fictional, the story resonates with the enduring strength and resilience of Indigenous peoples. However, for a book that lingers so long in the quiet dread, the ending felt rushed. It left threads dangling. Thankfully, there's a sequel, and I'm eagerly reaching for it to complete the journey.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Colonisation, Animal death, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, and Racism

Moderate: Cannibalism and Alcohol

kellyofcali's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

While I appreciated this post-apocalyptic tale from a First Nations author, I sometimes struggled a bit with the pacing - the action moved in spurts, and sometimes stepped into and out of dreams or through time a bit confusingly. It also almost skipped over the actual action, which was an interesting choice - not sure 100% how I felt about it. Overall though, I liked the story and the setting, and it was an easy listen (I did audiobook). Be warned, the narrator reads quite slowly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Cannibalism

Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Alcoholism, and Blood

Minor: Xenophobia, Addiction, and Animal death

r_o_s_e's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Colonisation, Abandonment, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Minor: Cursing, Cannibalism, and Violence

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Xenophobia, Murder, Racism, Blood, Animal death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Grief, and Violence