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kickitupanotch7's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent
otterforce's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
Let me start by saying that I have no idea how it stands up culturally today or how much of the story is based in fact or folklore. I'm happy for anyone with more knowledge to clarify or confirm.
The writing is simple, but the story has plenty going for it. It's a tale of survival, loss, love, belonging, home, culture, and so many other things. Of the many books I read in school, this one pops up in memory the most. So I decided to give it another read. I wasn't disappointed.
While categorized as juvenile fiction, there's nothing particularly juvenile about it apart from the age of Karana. The challenges she faces are no less adult—or life and death—than any other book I've read written for older audiences.
I won't go so far as to call the book wholesome, it communicates enough of the violence and struggle to drive the point home. But it's not gory or over-the-top at any points. A good way to spend a day or two in the head of someone else.
I'd like to think it's also a chance to see a strong non-white protagonist without stereotypes or the like as well. But, as stated above, I can't vouch for any sort of authenticity or research on the behalf of the author. But as an 80s kid growing up in public schools on military bases, this was certainly one of the more diverse books I stumbled across then and there's nothing that made me pause or question continuing to read the book now.
The writing is simple, but the story has plenty going for it. It's a tale of survival, loss, love, belonging, home, culture, and so many other things. Of the many books I read in school, this one pops up in memory the most. So I decided to give it another read. I wasn't disappointed.
While categorized as juvenile fiction, there's nothing particularly juvenile about it apart from the age of Karana. The challenges she faces are no less adult—or life and death—than any other book I've read written for older audiences.
I won't go so far as to call the book wholesome, it communicates enough of the violence and struggle to drive the point home. But it's not gory or over-the-top at any points. A good way to spend a day or two in the head of someone else.
I'd like to think it's also a chance to see a strong non-white protagonist without stereotypes or the like as well. But, as stated above, I can't vouch for any sort of authenticity or research on the behalf of the author. But as an 80s kid growing up in public schools on military bases, this was certainly one of the more diverse books I stumbled across then and there's nothing that made me pause or question continuing to read the book now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Grief, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racism, Abandonment, and Animal death
orchidlilly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I'll be honest, I don't remember a lot of this book, other than it was utterly traumatizing and I loved every word of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Death, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Colonisation
Moderate: War, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, and Racism
Minor: Blood, Violence, and Gore
michaelion's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
sad
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? No
3.25
I write this review as a person not Indigenous to the Americas.
There's something very iffy with a white man repurposing the story of an Indigenous woman. And then having that book be in the curriculum of California's elementary and middle school education! (I didn't read this book growing up; in fact I'd only learned about the woman baptized as Juana Maria within the past few years, and then found out there was a book inspired by her.) That being said, as a person who does not identify as Indigenous so take my review with a grain of sand, the appropriation isn't that bad. There's a few times in the book you can tell is so written from an outsider's voice trying to emulate something they really don't understand, and probably could never understand, but the whole book is written like a person trying to be careful and respectful about a sensitive topic, but also you remember they started their sentence by saying "If I could just play the devil's advocate for a second..."
When it comes to the writing, I realized about sixty pages in there would probably be no dialogue, which is tough for me because I truly believe that in any book dialogue IS the story, but I didn't find this book to be a drag. It wasn't hard to follow or be swept into, probably because it's a book written for kids, of course. Overall, I did not have as many complaints as I thought I would.
There's something very iffy with a white man repurposing the story of an Indigenous woman. And then having that book be in the curriculum of California's elementary and middle school education! (I didn't read this book growing up; in fact I'd only learned about the woman baptized as Juana Maria within the past few years, and then found out there was a book inspired by her.) That being said, as a person who does not identify as Indigenous so take my review with a grain of sand, the appropriation isn't that bad. There's a few times in the book you can tell is so written from an outsider's voice trying to emulate something they really don't understand, and probably could never understand, but the whole book is written like a person trying to be careful and respectful about a sensitive topic, but also you remember they started their sentence by saying "If I could just play the devil's advocate for a second..."
When it comes to the writing, I realized about sixty pages in there would probably be no dialogue, which is tough for me because I truly believe that in any book dialogue IS the story, but I didn't find this book to be a drag. It wasn't hard to follow or be swept into, probably because it's a book written for kids, of course. Overall, I did not have as many complaints as I thought I would.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Child death, Animal cruelty, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Racism, War, Genocide, and Suicidal thoughts
jacelynspacin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Animal death
Minor: Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, and Gore
wolfiegrrrl's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
4.5
This story has stuck with me ever since I first read it as a child and, rereading it as an adult, it's easy to see why. There's something so striking about a child protagonist who is left to survive alone on an island that echoes with the whispers of everyone she has lost. Her anger, loneliness, grief, and even her eventual happiness are all so beautifully written. I smiled, I cried, and I held my breath in suspense from beginning to end. For a child who was fascinated by what I could learn from historical fiction, this book fueled my imagination and it still brought me back to that place all these years later.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Abandonment, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood, Colonisation, and Violence
snazzysie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
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
1.75
For a book using first person narration, we never really get a look into how Karana feels about things - the writing is mostly very matter-of-fact and descriptive in that way, which personally for me, made it a bit of a boring read. This writing style made the story especially disconcerting to read, when life-changing events occured and yet it felt like Karana barely had a reaction.
It was definitely strange as the praise on the back of the book mentions - but not in a way that intrigued me. The events in the book made me feel frustrated and lonely, as I'm sure Karana had felt, and yet none of that seemed to be portrayed in the novel.
The premise of this book definitely would have made for an interesting read, but as you can tell from this review, the writing style threw me off and made reading it more confusing and less enjoyable.
Maybe I'm missing some deep symbolism or something, or, because this book is deemed a classic, this is just how books were written at the time of its publishing - but whatever the case, I don't think I'll be rereading this one.
Nonetheless, it's a good story showing Karana's strength and courage throughout difficult trials, and the real life story of The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island is inspiring. I also liked the side plots of her friendship with the dog and the girl Tutok, so for all of this, it gets 1.75 stars from me.
It was definitely strange as the praise on the back of the book mentions - but not in a way that intrigued me. The events in the book made me feel frustrated and lonely, as I'm sure Karana had felt, and yet none of that seemed to be portrayed in the novel.
The premise of this book definitely would have made for an interesting read, but as you can tell from this review, the writing style threw me off and made reading it more confusing and less enjoyable.
Maybe I'm missing some deep symbolism or something, or, because this book is deemed a classic, this is just how books were written at the time of its publishing - but whatever the case, I don't think I'll be rereading this one.
Nonetheless, it's a good story showing Karana's strength and courage throughout difficult trials, and the real life story of The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island is inspiring. I also liked the side plots of her friendship with the dog and the girl Tutok, so for all of this, it gets 1.75 stars from me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence
ashhearddwrites's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
One of my favorite books. I remember reading this in elementary school and falling in love with the Island and Karana. Definitely held up on a recent re-read!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Death
nxclx's review
adventurous
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
Reread of a childhood favorite, I enjoyed it this time around too. I didn't realize before it's based off of a real woman. For a book written in the 1960s, it surprisingly holds up fairly well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Blood
The deaths are not graphically described, but they are discussed and have an effect on the protagonist.
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