Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

55 reviews

ringofkeyz's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Addiction, Racism, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Drug abuse

Minor: Suicide

kimmyvickers's review against another edition

dark hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Such an important story for all to read. However, the writing itself is very telling and less showing. We don’t get a deep development of characters as the text itself is rushed. The content is deeply reflective and essential for all humans to know and understand. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racism, Colonisation, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, Rape, and Drug use

danielle_sips_tea's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Addiction, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Drug use

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Car accident, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Blood

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit

babieyunie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicide, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Trafficking, and Drug use

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Racism, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, and Kidnapping

bexwillson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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: Drug use, Racism, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

katietotallybooked's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

I am happy that I can finally say I've read this book. I also understand why it won the Canada Reads competition in 2022. I do believe it is a must read for Canadian readers.

Liked Most:

• How each of the character's storylines intertwined, even when it wasn't obvious that would happen from the beginning. 
• How different each character's story was. Their experiences were varied and how they handled their traumas varied. I think this helps make the book more representative (while still fictionalized) of the many shared histories of our Indigenous community. 

Liked Least:

• The timeline of the story felt unclear while I was reading, and I found it hard to follow at times because there was so many characters to keep track off.  

Themes/Topics:

• Residential Schools
• Indigenous History
• Child Abuse (Physical, Sexual, Emotional)
• Grief
• Loss of Innocence
• Suicide

Would Recommend To:

• All Canadian adult fiction readers
• Those interested in Indigenous lives, experiences, and histories

The audio is well done too!

Quotes:
“…she told me she was sorry about my mom. I didn't know, but she didn't need to say more. I had so many dreams at the Indian School about going home to her. Dreams about sleeping safe in my own room, playing on the beach at ease and without fear, and cooking with her. What I so desperately needed was to be standing on that stool by the stove, carefully stirring under her watchful eye like when I was little. To be little again, living without fear and brutality-no one gets that back. All that's left is a craving, insatiable empty place.”

“Kenny walked along the meandering creek, enjoying the sound of it when it narrowed and quickened, the peace of it when it widened and slowed, deeper and quieter, the rusty-coloured stones casting a sparkling copper tone on the crystalline water. There was a bitter sweetness in seeing his old friend. He was happy to share their tricky survival memories; it was the other ones, the ones that slipped in through the silences, that he was relieved to lose in his usual solitude.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief

abbie_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

3.75

Finished this one on Friday and it was a tough one but very necessary. With Five Little Indians, Michelle Good tells the stories of five residential school survivors, before, during and after their lives are irrevocably altered by the horrors of the Canadian institution. It’s told from the perspective of all five characters and flits around so we get to know their lives before the residential school, although the main heft of the novel is the five doing their best to live after they’ve been released into the world. It is truly disgusting how these ‘schools’ would steal young children away from families, strip them of their Indigenous heritage, often inflict unthinkable abuse, and then just cut them off once they come of age, left to struggle in the real world with no preparation or support. They do have each other, as this book highlights, and that’s all they have to cling to in a world that wants nothing to do with them. Michelle Good demonstrates how deeply trauma buries itself into the psyche of all five characters, to devastating consequences like alcoholism, mental illness, violence and even suicide. The writing is quite spare, but it grew on me quickly and I don’t think this is a topic that needs dressing up or sugarcoated.

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Difficult to swallow, but a must for understanding the horrors of Canadian residential schools.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Physical abuse

hologlam's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Genocide, Child death, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, Child abuse, Addiction, Colonisation, Pedophilia, and Police brutality

joyceticeleague's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.25

very important stories that need to be told, heavy but necessary. the writing is beautiful and easy to read. i do think that because the author had to cover 30+ years it did start to get a little dense to read imo but still and enjoyable read

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Racism, Suicide, Alcoholism, Addiction, Child abuse, Colonisation, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy