Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

34 reviews

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

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

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

thazell's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This was such a heart-wrenching book about the residential schools and the effects they had on people afterwards. It's about trauma and healing. This made me cry on multiple occasions and definitely left me with a heavy heart; it touches on many dark and sensitive subjects.

The characters felt real, it was like I was reading a non-fiction story about a group of people's lives which made it all that much harder. I cried for these characters who suffered from such a horrible event and I hoped for their healing from their trauma. My favourite from the perspective was definitely Lucy and her story. The only complaint I have for this book is that the story jumped around in a way that made it difficult for me to read and would pull me out of the story, it felt as though the timeline was all over the place. Otherwise, the perspective was cool and I loved seeing how they would interconnect and the different stories would come together.

This story will have a special place in my heart and I will continue to remember this event that has affected my culture and people, it deserves to be remembered and this story did amazing at that.

*Read the TW's before reading this book*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Child abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape

deandra_lalonde's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Death, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, and Grief

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

reading_rainbows's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Drug abuse, Grief, Medical content, Child death, Colonisation, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Racism, and Sexual violence

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

francestea's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow this was SO GOOD. I liked the format of switching between characters each chapter. Each character was fully formed, interesting and complicated. Their relationships, pains and joys all felt very real.  If you read this and loved it I would suggesting finding some interviews with Michelle Good about the book and her mother’s experience, they are very interesting also. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Police brutality, and Sexual assault

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