Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

53 reviews

schwelo's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

I knew this book would be heavy and it was. But the characters are so relatable and the storytelling so compelling, that I couldn’t put it down. Trauma takes many different forms in this story, but there is also survival, hope, healing & community. If the boarding schools were a rock thrown in a lake, this book is the story of all the ripples that spread out across the water’s surface. Excellent book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

katiecat22's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

I know a fair amount about these boarding schools in the US, but this book offers a lot of information about these schools operating in BC through fictional characters. This is so well written, and each chapter focuses on a different character, all while the chapters and stories of the characters weave back together. I teared up a lot in the final few chapters. Because of the time jumps and multi-character focus, we, as readers, don’t get to see and explore every aspect of these characters’ lives and how the legacy of the boarding school trauma impacts them, but I think the vignette-esque style works really well. Maise’s story was definitely the hardest to read for me. There are content warnings for just about everything, but it is such an important story to hear and share. I am so glad I read it, even though it was difficult to read emotionally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Addiction, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, and Religious bigotry

bouebooks's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

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

arianebedard's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

bnelson13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

A beautifully written, absolutely heartbreaking story. I can't even begin to put into words how Five Little Indians has made me feel while reading it. The absolute horror of the residental schools and what the survivors went through, and their struggles just to heal and try and live a decent life after is just crushing. An amazing read, the stories were captivating. Be prepared to cry.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

moyra's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

rozereads's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

breanneisdeadinside's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

5.0

This one made me cry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

Title: Five Little Indians
Author: Michelle Good
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5.0
Pub Date: April 14, 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Essential • Heartbreaking • Powerful

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Taken from their families and sent to a church-run residential school as small children, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie must learn to live in the real world upon their release. As the title suggests, Five Little Indians tells the stories of five young adults, with very few skills or resources, navigating and trying to survive in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Over the years their paths will cross as they each must contend with the trauma they endured for years at the Mission school. A story about trauma and loss, love and friendship, and coming to term with the past, while ultimately finding a way forward.

💭 T H O U G H T S

Of the five finalists for Canada Reads 2022, this was the one I had heard the most about prior to it being shortlisted. Five Little Indians is a work of fiction, but at it's heart it is gruesome and heartbreaking lived experience of so many residential school survivors and their families. Filled with a lot of trauma, there is certainly a lot to unpack, but there's also an underlying sense of hope and resiliency.

Told from five perspective in an alternating fashion, each one offers a different story that needs to be told. The five individuals each suffered a similar trauma, yet the various accounts explore how that trauma culminated in a completely different experience for each individual. Michelle Good utilizes this tool in order to showcase the broad scope of the long-lasting impact residential schools have had.

As someone trying to learn more about a past I was never taught, I felt this book really bridged a gap. There are books that ultimately shift everything you thought you knew, and this book was one of them for me. It's no surprise it was crowned the winner of Canada Reads 2022, as the one book to connect us all. This is a book we all need, and at its heart it is a book about connection - the connections to family and culture lost and connections made through shared experience. There is no one book I will be recommending more this year than Five Little Indians

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• all Canadians!
• teachers/professors
• anyone wanting to learn more

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"'I just don't know what to do.' Bella squeezed Kenny's hand. 'It's like most of me is gone and I can't get it back.'"

"'Sometimes I think I did die, I'm just still walking around.'"

"'Child, he loved you more than life. Me too. It was himself he couldn't love. They did that to him. Whatever they didn't break in him, they bent. They beat him so many times I couldn't even count. He never told me this, but I know Brother was bothering him too. That creep went after so many of those little boys.'"

"'You know what Mariah taught me about death? That the only thing our loved ones suffer is when we are suffering here without them. We know he is free, finally, in the green grass world. You know he would not want you to suffer.'
'I try. It just hurts so much. He deserved so much better.'
'We all did. But I guess the only thing we can do is try to make our own lives better now.'"

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Minor: Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation