Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

23 reviews

lydiamcleod's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Moving, deeply sad, tragic, and hopeful at the same time. A whole meal of a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Rape, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Ableism

Moderate: Death and Religious bigotry

andrewhatesham's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Rape, and Violence

taylorlanxon's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Gun violence, and Hate crime

Moderate: Sexual assault

tiffanykw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Rape, Murder, Car accident, and Gun violence

Minor: Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Colonisation, and Grief

annreadsabook's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

THE ROUND HOUSE is a real masterpiece of a novel, one that examines deep violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and the many obstacles that prevent survivors and their families from seeing something remotely approximating justice. In this book we have Joe, the son of a tribal judge who takes matters into his own hands after his mother is horrifically attacked, and over the course of the novel Joe is forced to grow up beyond his years. Erdrich considers the lengths we will go to fight for the ones we love, the limits and definitions of “justice,” and the lasting bonds of community.

This is an absolute classic and a must-read, particularly for those in the legal profession or for those who are interested in learning about how the tangled web of legal systems in the US interfere with Indigenous sovereignty. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. Queen Louise can do no wrong.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child death, and Car accident

Underage drinking

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Murder, Child death, Physical abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Colonisation, Death, Dementia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism

rshisler's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Death, Racism, Violence, and Rape

indrabindra's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Death, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, and Hate crime

Moderate: Vomit, Blood, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Car accident and Adult/minor relationship

sarahholliday's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

The non-five-star rating is completely down to my personal taste, because this is very clearly a masterpiece of a novel. 

I am definitely a plot-driven person, but I enjoy picking up the occasional character-focused story. Joe and his community are absolutely fascinating, and though at times I wished we could move outside of his limited first-person perspective, it was both haunting and magical to see the events of the novel through his eyes.

What stood out to me the most was the emotional rawness—Erdrich takes readers into the kinds of emotional landscapes that are suffocating and overwhelming, but leads them through in the myriad ways all humans turn to: avoidance, escape, drunkenness, attempts to maintain some sort of control.

I loved Erdrich's style enough that I'm eager to pick up some of her other novels, and I highly recommend The Round House to anyone looking for a deeply-felt story of family, injustice, courage, and friendship.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Alcoholism, Murder, Cursing, Grief, Death, and Gun violence

bangishimokwe's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Torture, Alcohol, Body horror, Car accident, Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual violence