Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

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

10 reviews

agenericmirkwoodelf's review

dark emotional funny 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

3.5

3.5 round up! Important story, a few icks! 
I think this is a book that needs to exist. It’s a powerful story with a lot of charm and wit, yet it remains incredibly grounded throughout. It says a lot of things that need to be said, and being semi-autobiographical, every character feels real. 
That said, I do think it handles some issue poorly. Obviously, being autobiographical as it is, the author is free to discuss the protagonist’s issues however he likes. However, I felt like some of the other issues in the book were handled pretty poorly- particularly surrounding the character Penelope. I understand the POV character is an unabashedly thirsty teenage boy, and the narrative style is allowed to reflect that, but it felt absolutely wrong to read about-

 [Spoilers + TW] 

- how “incredibly sexy” this character was immediately after learning she struggled with ED.




That’s just my take, though! :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Bullying, Homophobia, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Car accident

dch7's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Grief, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Cursing, Murder, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Car accident, and Death

te_ss_i's review against another edition

emotional funny fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Bullying, Car accident, Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Colonisation, Grief, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Toxic friendship

nina17's review

challenging emotional funny sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Violence

directorpurry's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Drug abuse, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Suicide, and Body shaming

Minor: Colonisation

taliatalksbooks's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

 The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by the one and only Sherman Alexie was a quick, one day read. When I picked this up, I didn’t expect to fly through it, but the comedic/casual tone for such serious topics really drew me in and propelled me forward. Though it’s not a long book, I think it handles really important and intricate topics through the lens’s of a child trying to better himself. Though some moments can be a little harsh, I think this is a great read for young adults, especially those who have limited to no knowledge about the issues that can plague life on native reservations, including poverty and addiction. Overall, I really enjoyed this read, and I think you will, too, despite the language being a bit dated. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Addiction

kuchikopii's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Hate crime, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, and Ableism

cakrolik's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

itsmeyseniab's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

"The world is only broken into two tribes: the people who are assholes and the people who are not."

Being Native myself, I was so excited to read this own-voices novel! I think Sherman Alexie did a great job of capturing what life is truly like on the rez, and really highlighted a lot of the issues that Native people face day to day. However, I do think that it got to be a bit much by the end of the novel - some of the events that took place seemed to be added in for "shock value" in my eyes. Still a good coming-of-age story if you're looking for a fast-paced read!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Racism, Eating disorder, Death, and Homophobia

karingforbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

My biggest hiccup was the length/: too short. And while I liked how fast it read, it also felt like it left out huge important chunks or summarized them in a sentence. That said, this was great. I loved the cartoons and there were so many great lines! It shows life on the reservation for a large majority of native Americans in the States (so long as you realize geography and culture differs) and makes it accessible. It dove into identity and love and race. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Genocide, Hate crime, and Racism