Reviews

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

petaq's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.25

Kind of an uneven novel imo?  Dimaline is wonderful on a sentence level and her depiction of the main character is convincing, as is her depiction of her family, community and longing for her lost husband but her handling of the 'antagonists' felt a bit hammy and detracted from the novel. I think it would have been a stronger novel without their POVs, assuming we kept the same number of pages. 

The prologue also seemed like the intro to a different novel ( unfortunately it was probably my favourite part of the book ) 

The outcome or twist at the end of the novel didn't really seem earned. I didn't hate it! It makes sense in retrospect, and there's interesting thematic implications to it but its more like I wished the seeds were planted and watered a little earlier (they were planted, but a little too late to chew on).

smorrison4's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.0

This was an interesting story. I like that Cherie Dimaline incorporates Indigenous folk tales into the story.

reindeerbandit's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

i hope zeus is okay

graceesix's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.0

ovenbird_reads's review against another edition

4.0

So good! I liked the Marrow Thieves, but I think this was even better. I love a book with a deep mythology at its core and this one doesn't disappoint. It's also a scathing critique of a variety of colonial structures (religious and capitalist) and a celebration of the power of community. Not to mention being a page turner. All around great read!

ecolvig's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

juliaehill's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

The lyrical turns of phrase in this book were excellent enough to forgive a plot line that jumped around and meandered at moments. The author has done a superb job mixing in Métis First Nations folklore of the Rogarou (werewolf) into modern day struggles against colonialism and capitalist industries.

marselise's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

jakinabook's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

jai_meow's review against another edition

1.0

It was super slow at the beginning, but it continued to pick up a bit. Overall, the story attempt was there I just think it wasnt executed to its full potential. I also found the family relations to be extremely confusing because there wasn't a family tree or at least an explanation to the relations of the characters, so I was left to figure it out. The ending in my opinion could have been written so much better, I found it felt like a cliffhanger or even like Dimaline is planning to write a sequel for it.