Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

19 reviews

linw21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Suicide, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, and Child abuse

kailas's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Forced institutionalization, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Racism, Addiction, Misogyny, Grief, Suicide, Rape, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Colonisation

jakobpunkt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? Yes

5.0

Beautiful, hard, essential reading about the so-called "residential school" system of concentration camps for indigenous children in Canada. For all that the emotional reality presented by this book is devastating to witness and engage with, it is clear that the author has, out of either pity for the reader or respect for the survivors, pulled some punches. You won't find much in the way of torture porn here, which is good. This book deals mostly with the aftermath. The lives of adults who survived that system, and how they cope (or don't) with their memories and their new reality.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Racism, and Genocide

melaniekarin's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a truly beautiful book of interwoven lives and stories of five residential school survivors. Difficult but important read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Genocide

susanknights's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Self harm, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Torture

shelleyanderson4127's review against another edition

challenging informative 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

3.5

 This is an award winning fictional story that follows the lives of five First nations children who are stolen from their families in the 1960s and confined to a Canadian residential school, where they are systematically abused.

Released as teenagers with no skills or support they begin building lives for themselves amid the drugs and poverty of Downtown Eastside Vancouver.

Make no mistake: Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are, for the most part, survivors, who deal with their shared trauma in their own ways. This is a compelling novel which despite the brutal subject matter never leaves the reader hopeless, because the protagonists themselves, who have the right to feel hopeless, seldom do.

The author is a Cree writer who worked as a lawyer for over 14 years advocating for residential school survivors. This is her debut novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Genocide

jozefinkak's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

A beautifully written heart wrenching yet heart warming book. A must read for all settlers on Turtle Island. 

I enjoyed the easy style of writing and the varying perspectives of the characters, which made me care deeply for them all. Michelle Good did
an amazing job of relaying what these characters went through without resorting to graphic detail. Beautifully subtle. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

katelynrushton's review against another edition

emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

A difficult read, but well work it. Tells the interconnected stores of 5 Indigenous children as they survived residential schools and the impact that had on their lives.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death

markedwithanm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Suicide