Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

35 reviews

elly29's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad fast-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

had some brief thought this was going to be like “An Indian in the Cupboard.” Boy, was I incorrect. (No magical realism, no fantasy.) Alexie’s personal, fictionalized story came out of nowhere for me, and it was impactful in the way that most middle-school-age reads are impactful. So much of Arnold/Junior’s life was difficult, but also so much of it was easy (like how he became popular). It was a tapestry, and showed a lot of issues Indigenous Americans face.

I listened to the version narrated by Alexie. It was powerful. You can hear Alexie get emotional over the deaths of his his sister Mary and his dad's best friend Eugene. I felt the loss and the hopelessness of the rez, and how beautiful and complex it is to be Indigenous. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Racism

Minor: Vomit and Toxic friendship

There is a pet dog death.

unusualsnowunicorn's review against another edition

funny hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, and Grief

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, and Child abuse

vivthereader's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny fast-paced

cried x3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

michaelion's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

3.25

I started and finished this book in 6 hours. Now why did it take us like 2 weeks to read it in high school? That's how you know high school is an evil place! Insufferable institution!

Great book, though. I'm glad I reread it.

But I had to take away points for use of the n word. Like damn even if it's not from our main character, it's very disappointing the author wrote that in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Eating disorder

lucinotlucy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Bullying, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Homophobia, Grief, and Alcohol

Minor: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Suicide, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

bethanysbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad fast-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Animal death

Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia

ozzyjames's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence

lauragracel's review against another edition

dark funny hopeful sad fast-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? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, and Homophobia

swaggynikki's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative reflective fast-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

This book was very honest, and I loved it for that. I hate when I say things like this because it sounds so reactionary and bad, but I loved that it was a story without an agenda: it wasn't meant to be inspiration porn or some sort of argument for why native american life is great, actually, and they have everything figured out. It was just this really genuine and realistic story. At first the narration was very "I'm a teenage boy and I love jerking off!" which I didn't love even if it is realistic, but the descriptions of his life and the people around him and his decisions definitely made up for it. At first the books starts... not lighthearted, exactly, because there's plenty of dark shit in the beginning, but about halfway through it has this sharp tone shift into ultimate emotionally damaging territory. It was just a really sweet and sad coming-of-age story, and a unique look into the conditions of living on a reservation that I really valued reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, and Racial slurs

honeyhistory103's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

I had a hard time finishing this one. At a third of the way through, I still hadn’t connected to any of the characters, least of all Junior/Arnold, and was really tempted to put it down. Sherman does an excellent job of getting into the head of a 14 year old boy, which may have been part of why I failed to connect in any way until over halfway though, and even then, I never found myself particularly liking any of the characters. The entire book felt anecdotal, but not in the atmospheric way that some books can take on. 

Despite overall not enjoying the characters or plot, there were some really nice emotional moments in the story, and it definitely encourages one to consider the problems that plague Native American reservations today. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Grief