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leaosinho's review against another edition
4.0
This book has taught me so much especially since I read it during my trip to australia. It is incredibly fun and Kerry and all the characters are built upon so perfectly. I would definitely read this book again and i highly recommend it to anyone who knows what it is like to be in the minority of society or in a dysfunctional family. Or to anyone really who would like to see from another perspective of the world.
meraissa_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual violence, and Child abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty
__rachk's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
stephbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
davethescot's review against another edition
4.0
Lucashenko is an all too rare voice in fiction. The salters burst from the page in all their dysfunction and glory.
drillvoice's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! What a read. It's a pretty amazing blend of page-turner/thriller and a book about race and colonialism and intergenerational trauma. And it works.
The main character is Bundjalung woman Kerry Salter who returns to her childhood home in Durrongo because of her grandfather's impending death. Conveniently for Kerry, she is also fleeing arrest warrants in Queensland. Home, she rejoins her alcoholic and explosive brother Ken, her pious and pitiful mother 'Pretty Mary', and a host of other characters. The thriller part is that corrupt local mayor Jim Buckley is planning to sell off land to build a prison - land that is sacred to the Salter family and that they are devoted to protecting.
Ultimately the thriller parts of the book are good but not great - it all resolves a bit too neatly in the final chapters, without much real effort. It does provide a useful enemy for the Salter family (which has enough internal squabbles, for sure) and also some great moments of dark comedy: a scene where the local police come to the family home to sound them out is very comic, as is an anarchic art project involving one of Buckley's beloved.
What I found engrossing was the family drama and here I guess I must confess ignorance, because Melissa Lucashenko depicts this aboriginal family with its extended web of local connections that extend back in time with unflinching and sometimes appalling honesty. (The location and family are fictitious, of course, but Lucashenko notes "virtually every incidence of violence in these pages has occurred within my extended family at least once.") This is a family with an incredible connection to each other, their extended community, and their place, but one also divided by trauma, deep secrets, and substance abuse. It's a grim portrait and gave me something to think about.
What adds to this and makes the book an extra joy is the authenticity of the narration. I enjoyed the naturalness with which Lucashenko interweaves Bundjalung, English, and the specific lingo-inflected English (apparently) spoken by this family. There's also this very heartfelt depiction of the culture which includes clapsticks and didgeridoo, sure, but also I guess it's more about what the modern culture is. I daresay some people would read this and chuckle knowingly.
I'm genuinely disappointed nobody has recommended this to me before more strongly, and I'm going to go and read Lucashenko's other books.
The main character is Bundjalung woman Kerry Salter who returns to her childhood home in Durrongo because of her grandfather's impending death. Conveniently for Kerry, she is also fleeing arrest warrants in Queensland. Home, she rejoins her alcoholic and explosive brother Ken, her pious and pitiful mother 'Pretty Mary', and a host of other characters. The thriller part is that corrupt local mayor Jim Buckley is planning to sell off land to build a prison - land that is sacred to the Salter family and that they are devoted to protecting.
Ultimately the thriller parts of the book are good but not great - it all resolves a bit too neatly in the final chapters, without much real effort. It does provide a useful enemy for the Salter family (which has enough internal squabbles, for sure) and also some great moments of dark comedy: a scene where the local police come to the family home to sound them out is very comic, as is an anarchic art project involving one of Buckley's beloved.
What I found engrossing was the family drama and here I guess I must confess ignorance, because Melissa Lucashenko depicts this aboriginal family with its extended web of local connections that extend back in time with unflinching and sometimes appalling honesty. (The location and family are fictitious, of course, but Lucashenko notes "virtually every incidence of violence in these pages has occurred within my extended family at least once.") This is a family with an incredible connection to each other, their extended community, and their place, but one also divided by trauma, deep secrets, and substance abuse. It's a grim portrait and gave me something to think about.
What adds to this and makes the book an extra joy is the authenticity of the narration. I enjoyed the naturalness with which Lucashenko interweaves Bundjalung, English, and the specific lingo-inflected English (apparently) spoken by this family. There's also this very heartfelt depiction of the culture which includes clapsticks and didgeridoo, sure, but also I guess it's more about what the modern culture is. I daresay some people would read this and chuckle knowingly.
I'm genuinely disappointed nobody has recommended this to me before more strongly, and I'm going to go and read Lucashenko's other books.
kenchan's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jhjenn's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? No
4.5
andyfernandy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0