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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-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:
Yes
It’s a slow burn and takes a while to get into. But the character arcs and development is incredible. Beautifully told, immersive.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abortion
This is not so much a review as an expression of admiration. As a forest lover from childhood, a former resident of the Pacific Northwest, and one familiar with the collapse of much of the traditional logging industry and its effects on rural communities, I love this novel. It shows people enmeshed in layers of dependency and responsibility and of devotion to increasingly fragile ways of sustaining each other as those dependencies became less stable. The story remains grounded in the human throughout, with the right amount of setting specifics, sharply rendered, to help me immerse in the story.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this book! Even though the pacing is slow, I found myself unable to put it down. I became deeply invested in the characters, which I think was heavily influenced by the pacing and amount of time spent with each character. Their stories were complex and shifting and deeply human. I also really enjoyed how much the community itself is a character that means different things to different people. It is a book deeply rooted in place.
I really appreciated the inclusion of indigenous perspectives. I found Daniel's character and his uncle's speech to be some of the strongest and most moving parts of the book. Daniel's uncle's speech was definitely influenced by the Cree proverb: "Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will you realize that you cannot eat money."
I found the critique of conservation activists and how they often use indigenous people incredibly important as well as the scalding critique of corporate interests and capitalism. This book offers an intimate portrait of how relationships with the land change through colonial contact and capitalist extraction and the devastating ecological destruction left in their wake. This book is also a stunning examination of why people do or do not act and what truly makes a community.
I will say that I really did not like the ending. I think I understand what Davidson was trying to do, but it just did not work for me. With a different ending this would have been a 5-star book.
I really appreciated the inclusion of indigenous perspectives. I found Daniel's character and his uncle's speech to be some of the strongest and most moving parts of the book. Daniel's uncle's speech was definitely influenced by the Cree proverb: "Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will you realize that you cannot eat money."
I found the critique of conservation activists and how they often use indigenous people incredibly important as well as the scalding critique of corporate interests and capitalism. This book offers an intimate portrait of how relationships with the land change through colonial contact and capitalist extraction and the devastating ecological destruction left in their wake. This book is also a stunning examination of why people do or do not act and what truly makes a community.
I will say that I really did not like the ending. I think I understand what Davidson was trying to do, but it just did not work for me. With a different ending this would have been a 5-star book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Car accident, Abortion, Colonisation
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It’s been awhile since I’ve read a debut novel so raw, grainy, and firmly placed in its environment. The clay is still a bit stiff, but if Ash Davidson continues to churn it I can see upper echelon brilliance in her future. Get ready for an experience in hitting the gas at regular intervals with long intervals of stillness in between. It’s a storm story: with a constant steady rain between the lightning.
4.5/5
4.5/5
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent