Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

4 reviews

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Death, Grief, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Dementia, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Addiction, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Animal death, Car accident, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Rape, Alcohol, Genocide, and Infidelity

katharina90's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Certain snippets of this book I really liked. For example, the Indigenous folks winding up the town priest was hilarious and brilliantly written. 

Maybe it just wasn't the right time for this book but I found it difficult to keep track of the characters, timelines and connections between various characters and events. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Colonisation, and Hate crime

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Rape

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, and Transphobia

quickermorequickly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Dang, this book has everything: multi-generational history, multiple POVs, commentary on how our lives are all dependent on one another, a

stamp

-related heist, a cult, genuine human relationships, family lore, and a twist ending. It starts off feeling like a series of vignettes or short stories about the history of Evelina's family— including the gruesome history of a hanging— and it is only when her stories start to be contrasted with those of Judge Coutts that we begin to understand the true significance of her childhood observations. The ravages of colonialism on the Chippewa people and others in the Pluto, North Dakota area, and the complicated inheritance of descendants of both white settlers and indigenous families, makes for a compelling, gripping narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

becksusername's review

dark emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Not my favorite Erdrich. There was just a lot going on and I couldn't really keep track of how everyone related to each other. But there were a lot of good stories within it, and I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it more quickly. I took a lot of breaks and lost track of things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, Murder, Mental illness, Incest, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, and Cannibalism