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alexalily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Genocide, Colonisation, Child death, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Animal death
morganpearcy's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
One of the reasons why I love Dystopian Speculative Fiction so much is because I personally find it profoundly hopeful - the kind of thing I read when I need my faith in humanity restored. This book has moved me in so many ways. I couldn’t put it down. It explores what it is to be human. What it is to survive - and empathy. There are some really good topics explored, including:
- Creating your family of choice.
- Caring for an aging Elder.
- Protecting children to let them be kids for as long as possible.
- Humanity and the motivations of those who have lost theirs.
- Community repair and harm reduction, even when the world is burning down.
- What it means to have enough.
Highly recommend. Very applicable to today. This book is such a joy to read, and such a great exploration of indigeneity and our humanity.
Be prepared with a box of tissues. And TW for chapter, “Wab’s Coming-To Story” for sexual assault. Surprisingly, handled delicately - but still very triggering.
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Dementia, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Rape, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, and Trafficking
graciffer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: War, Child death, Medical trauma, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy and Animal death
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
4.25
Content warnings: violence, blood, gore, eye injury, rape, kidnapping, residential schools, colonial trauma, racism, nonconsensual medical experimentation, torture, pedophilia, death, murder, death of parent, death of loved one, death of child
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Blood, Child death, Grief, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Torture
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Pros:
- the writing is gorgeous! if i highlighted books, it would be filled with highlighter. Some sentences and metaphors were just stunning, it's really poetic whilst still being grounded, brutal without being gratuitous, and really poignant too. The plot was perfect too, enough happening to keep it moving without it being rushed, the final twist totally surprising me.
- the characters were perfect too, especially Miigwans, Rose and the narrator, Francis/Frenchie himself. The trauma they've been through is obvious though not leaned heavily on, and Frenchie's crush is a reminder that he's still so young.
- the worldbuilding is original and brilliant, hugely awful but with hope through the Native Americans' survival.
- i loved the inclusion of Story, the language, the reverence the younger ones show their elders and the learning and how the community pulled together. I've never read a book by a Native American but this was a brilliant reason for why I should find more of them.
(- the worldbuilding and beautiful language reminded me loosely of Station Eleven, and that can only be a very good thing!)
Cons:
-
- sometimes the worldbuilding verged on a bit too tell-y for me and a little unoriginally presented maybe? but it was a minor detail
(not a pro or con, but I was suprised by how often the narrator/author used 'Indians' to describe themselves. I really thought that was considered a slur and Native American the "proper" term? something to look into i guess)
Overall, a wonderful book, i think maybe my first 5 star of the year, definitely want to read more by this author!
Graphic: Racism, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Colonisation, Blood, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gore, Addiction, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Minor: Torture and Pregnancy
overall tone is hopeful, but some brief but very heavy bits, particularly with the sexual assaultbooksthatburn's review
- 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
5.0
The term "found family" is both accurate and inadequate for the character relationships. They're the remnants of a much larger and more complex community which was hunted, shattered, and even now is pursued. They were part of a community generally even before they found each other specifically, and now they're all they have left. Frenchie lost his parents before the novel opens, and loses his brother in the opening chapter. He finds a group of traveling Indigenous people, on the move in order to stay alive. I like Miig as a leader, he's doing his best and focusing on teaching the younger ones what they'll need to know. He and Minerva are working to pass on their culture, balancing the need to understand with the maturity of the individual children.
A lot of the worldbuilding is conveyed though stories, either “Story” told nightly by Miig, or the characters’ “creation stories”, each person’s own history of how they came to be with the group. It lends a ponderous air to these details, where the reader’s desire to know more synchronizes with Frenchie’s hunger for any scrap of connection he can get. From the premise, I anticipated a scene in the factories, detailing the dystopia through voyeuristic gaze into the mechanisms used to cause their suffering. It doesn’t do that, thankfully, it stays focused on the characters, their journey, and their community. The physical bits of worldbuilding are in the places they pass through, the abandoned structures, and the garbage on the ground, the detritus that marks the wreckage of the world that was and the dangerous other people who also inhabit it.
I love the way the plot is unhurried. The endless travel is devoid of meaningful landmarks except for detritus. The pivotal scenes mostly hinge either on encounters with others or from stories. This changes toward the end after an encounter irrevocably changes the status quo and prompts them to change how they're running. I love the ending, it would be the best part if not for how great the rest of the book is.
Graphic: Kidnapping and Genocide
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Murder, Death, Rape, Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Child death
Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Ableism, Excrement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Confinement, Vomit, and Death of parent
caseythereader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Rape
ivana's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Racism
livslittlelibraryy's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Animal death, and Forced institutionalization
leekaufman's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Racism and Genocide
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Animal death