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jennabeck13's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The Prospectors by Ariel Djanikian
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5/5)
Genre: Historical Fiction
About 365 pages
The Bushes and the Berrys followed the masses to Yukon Territory during the Klondike Gold Rush. The families made millions off stolen land, and years later, one family member wants to share some of that wealth with those his ancestors neglected. But is it too late? And is that the right thing to do? The Prospectors follows the stories of the gold rush years and Anna and her grandfather trying to restore the scales that were long neglected.
I normally wouldn’t pick up this book on my own, but when it was picked as my book club book last month, I was intrigued. I won’t lie… I STRUGGLED for the first 1/3 of this book. This book is a slow burn, and it took me a while to get invested in the story, but once I did, I was fully in. The family drama was entertaining and convoluted. The characters were complex and not always likable. And it forced the reader to think about their morals and the extensive history of stolen land in America. I don’t think the present-day storyline was necessary since (1) the stories didn’t tie in closely/build off each other a lot and (2) we didn’t get a ton of pages of it anyways.
Favorite Quote: “You’re right,” Owen agreed, though in a way to make me realize that I’d talked myself into a trap. “It is too complicated. Which ends up being super convenient for us. The harm we do to other people is so obfuscated by all these layers of economic transactions that it’s almost totally hidden. It makes it perfectly rational to give up trying to figure out how our actions affect other people.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Colonisation, Infertility, Death, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Infidelity, Murder, Medical trauma, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Suicidal thoughts
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