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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Just not hitting for me right now. I’ll
Come back to it another time.
Come back to it another time.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
emotional
reflective
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
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
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:
Yes
Context: I did not realise when I began this book that Mr Orange’s novel There There shares some of the characters that this novel does. I think when I read the first novel a lot of my confusion will be cleared up.
So, Kindle had this summer reading challenge. This was one of the books.While I my preconceptions of summer reading was light this novel is anything but.It illuminated the reasons for the generational trauma so evident in Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich. It is a novel that I hope many USains will read and remember.
While the stories told of a multigenerational family are hard, the author writes beautiful prose., with narration styles changing as needed for the story. I was confused when we leave Victoria Bear Shield and begin part two in 2018. This is what happens when you read books out of order.
The plot is intricate, places are wonderfully described, and the characters could hardly be more alive. This is what a novel should be. Read it and remember, stolen lives, stolen land, stolen labour.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Deportation
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Medical content
Graphic drug overdose. Moderate maternal death.
I was very much between a three and a four star rating for this book and feel like it’d go up to four stars on a re-read. The characters feel very rich and alive and I loved how deftly Orange shifted narrative styles, including a chapter written in the second person which I found very powerful. The book is well written and the themes of addiction and identity are interesting, but it’s hard to pinpoint anything in the narrative that I will remember a year from now.