Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline

11 reviews

schausjk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

3.75

I started this book immediately after finishing the first, but I almost wish I'd waited longer between books. I kept finding continuity errors that I probably otherwise wouldn't've if it had more time for the story to rest in my brain and for me to forget small details. After all the revelations about Minerva and the power she carried, I really would have thought there would have been more acknowledgement of what she did. The author shared in the afterword that there wasn't originally going to be a sequel to The Marrow Thieves, and it really shows. If this had been originally set up to be a book with sequels, some of the things that exist in the second book could've been more deftly woven into the worldbuilding. 

The Frenchie plot was an interesting and emotional take on the deep horror of residential schools. Aside from that, most of the emotional beats didn't quite hit as deeply as they did in the first one. That being said, I still appreciated being able to see more of the characters.

My rating honestly would've been lower, but I've seen several low reviews out there specifically complaining about the book's so-called "forced diversity" (ugh.) by not making white people the focus in a specifically indigenous book (which... what??) and through the inclusion of a gay couple and a two-spirit character, so I'm rating it a bit higher out of spite for those other reviewers.

TLDR: Not a bad book, but not nearly as well put together as the first one was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Cannibalism

Minor: Child death and Drug use

readingwithkaitlyn's review

dark tense medium-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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Genocide, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Trafficking, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Infertility, Ableism, and Cannibalism

Minor: Terminal illness, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide, Abandonment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Slavery, and Vomit

Residential schools.

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Heartbreaking and healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Cannibalism, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Medical content, Grief, and Trafficking

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Blood, Pregnancy, Torture, Confinement, Violence, Medical content, and Racism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual content, Deportation, and Child death

Incarceration

alexalily's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Medical content, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Racism, Infertility, Child death, Sexual assault, and Animal death

bookcaptivated's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Confinement, Pregnancy, Grief, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Child death

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Xenophobia, and Genocide

Moderate: Abandonment, Trafficking, Torture, Racism, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Medical content

whitedaylilies's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A thrilling sequel that I didn’t know I needed! I absolutely fell in love with Cherie Dimaline’s story and characters in The Marrow Thieves and was so excited to come across this next part of the adventure. The characters are so rich and the writing is so compelling. I read this entire book in one day, which is very rare for me. I will admit that I listened to the audio at the same time so that sped things up for this slow reader…and the narration was superb!  This story pulled at the heart strings so many times. The love that this family has for each other is just so beautiful and palpable! The stakes are so high for them and they just keep surviving, keep protecting each other, keep telling their stories and sharing the bits of language that they remember. As an ancestor of colonists to Turtle Island, I do the work I can to unlearn the false history and systemic racism that I grew up with, and stories like this are so important for teaching that if we are not careful that past becomes the future and that can never be allowed to happen again (and many would agree that the “past” is still present for Indigenous People of Turtle Island).  I highly recommend this book and it’s first…go read immediately!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Gore, Medical content, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Torture

maryjames's review

adventurous dark reflective sad tense 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, and Racism

Moderate: Child death

nataliebootlah's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

From The Marrow Thieves, French is back in this gripping sequel. 

It picks up where we left off—in a ravaged world where Indigenous people are hunted for their bone marrow, which is believed to bring back dreams. French and his found family are still on the run, willing to do anything to stay out of the hands of the Recruiters. 

When French is captured and ends up at a school, he must decide how far he’s willing to go to escape. On the outside, his family is deciding the same thing. Through brutal trials, questions of character, love, loss, and everything in between, we see what freedom means for this family. 

Dimaline captures a fictionalized version of the very real residential schools that took place in the US and Canada, where Indigenous people were sent to boarding schools to sever their cultures and traditions. It is a harrowing look into North America’s history and a reminder of what happened right under the soles of our feet. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Child death