Reviews with content warning for Trafficking - The Night Watchman

I didn't like this one as much as The Sentence, but I'm also not a big historical fiction fan, so that's just a personal preference thing. It was a very good book. There were a lot of character names in there to keep up with, which was disconcerting at times. Also, Patrice's immediate situation when she gets to the Cities was odd as well, just because it seemed to be immediate and not fitting the tone of the book before then. I know it was important/necessary, but I wish that the tone could have shifted a bit more before that.

Other than that, I really liked this book. I swore it was written in the 90s, but apparently not. The omniscient point of view threw me at first, but I grew used to it and became a pretty big fan, especially considering how Erdrich used it. Having a few chapters from animals' perspectives was cool. It's a very good book.

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hkburke2's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Complex and lyrical. This was a slow read for me.

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have_a_doris_day's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was so captivating and beautiful. It’s been a long time since I’ve met such a quirky and memorable cast of characters. There are so many beautiful stories swirled into this book, with main arcs as a beautiful frame for them all to fall into.

For my senior year English class in high school, we were required to write a “thesis.” I found myself at that point in my life and stumped by an entire year of writer’s block suddenly overwhelmed by so many ideas and feelings. I turned in a muddled mess and my teacher described it in the margins as a “carousel that never stops.” Af the time I was crushed by the B- and now it seems incredibly unimportant but also poignant somehow?

Anyways, this book is an example of a turning carousel that is so perfectly written, structured so expertly, that I was caught up in the motion but was also able to savor those precious moments of heartbreak or spookiness or elation. Would love to be able to write even a fraction as brilliantly as Louise Erdrich.

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erica_palmisano's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

Fascinating and surprising. I haven't spent a lot of time in places like North Dakota & Minnesota during the 1950s, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The story was vivid and covered some difficult realities, but also kind and grounded in the details of daily life and simple pleasures. The audio narration was straight-forwardly lovely – cadence and style were simple and it was good to hear the fragments of the Chippewa language pronounced properly too. So glad I read this and got to meet these characters!

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