Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

ducks was a darker-than-expected read, w/ beaton's graphic memoir focusing on her 2 yrs working in canada's oil sands, which proved to be a complex, nuanced experience w/ negative repercussions nevertheless.

the book dealt w/ human behavior when situated in an unusual microcosm thats focused on the wrong things, demonstrating the oil companies' flaws and policies that enabled a culture of silence and harassment. im disturbed to learn that beaton's experience was a daily struggle of living in a man's world, encountering sexist and misogynistic behavior both glaringly alarming and casually subtle.

tho i cant fully say the reading experience as a whole was enjoyable due to my detached distance from the stable, wearying tone of the story, the art was great - never an awkward panel to be found - w/ both fluid characters and more realistic illustrations of the setting, many of which were notable. i also appreciated beaton touching on the oil industry's culpability in wreaking destruction to the local communities, and the awareness of her own positionality.

id recommend this book to ppl who wouldnt be disturbed by the book's triggering content, and those interested in learning abt sth rarely explored esp in visual form.

Content Warnings

nanoauthor's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

4.0

Content Warnings

kfergy's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny fast-paced

5.0

I'm from Alberta and have visited the oil sands/tar sands/bitumenous sands as part of a student delegation. This visit and keeping up with news scrapped the surface of the life and challenges covered by Beaton, so while I wasn't surprised by the stories, I was deeply interested and not disappointed. I hope others are able to access this wonderful work.

Content Warnings

squid_inked's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This memoir is heavy, but poignant.

Content Warnings

creolelitbelle's review

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

3.25

I admire Kate Beaton for taking jobs in tough working environments to pay off her student loans quickly. Personally, I could not see moving away from my immediate life to do that, but I see the allure in it. Student loan debt is no laughing matter, and it's not something only Americans deal with.

At the back of the book, Beaton explains that the memoir details HER experience, and, of course, not everyone's experience working in the oil sands of Alberta are the same. Even different women may have different experiences. The events recounted in this graphic novel must be read in the mind-frame of the time period 2005-2008, because the treatment she dealt with from men would likely not be looked over so quickly today. My heart went out to her at the way she took the blame, excused behavior, or just beared with it to pass the time and earn the money. She saw no truly conceivable outcome that wouldn't make the environment worse for herself, which has been a real predicament for women in many uncomfortable work situations throughout history. While Ducks is marketed to adults, I feel like the themes could be great for older teens to learn from such as: how to crawl from under student debt; what student debt feels like mentally; what workplace harassment can look like; how to deal with workplace harassment; having allies in the workplace; and the dilemma of choosing the job you want over the job that will support your life. The art is done very well with great depictions of characters and setting. I could easily differentiate everyone. Illustrating the Northern Lights with multiple colors would have been wonderful, but most of the book is fairly monochromatic, perfect for the isolation of the oil sands job sites.

Content Warnings

More...