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thebearnest'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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Cursing, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Drug use, Colonisation, and Addiction
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Gun violence
crazybooklady91's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Rape, and Death of parent
cait_henry56's review against another edition
Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism
minimicropup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Our MC is a recovering addict trying to manage adulting while caring for a parent with a brain injury and dealing with their anger and grief over their mother going missing when they were just a baby.
🐺🐕Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags:
🤨 Kari was such a frustrating character. I think she was supposed to be rough-around-the-edges, assertive, take-no-bull, but all I was getting was a 30-something going on 13 trying to convince others she's non-conformist, and super edgy. She is offended by EVERYTHING and so obtuse and stubborn. She wants (demands) answers but doesn't listen to what anyone says or rolls her eyes at their perspectives then whines about no one helping her.
🙄 I don't mind unlikeable/annoying narrators but so much of the story was wrapped up in Kari's repetitive angsty, martyr complex monologues and dialogues. If someone advised her to use the bridge because the path is flooded, she would use the path and complain for pages about how everyone is out to get her because she almost drowned (even if all that really happened was her feet got wet). Okay, that doesn't literally happen in the story, but it's an example of what to expect throughout and it comes at the expense of the character and plot development. For about the first third of the novel it's also ALL we get.
😐 The writing style was almost point form or something. I had to keep rereading sentences, it didn't flow well. That's fine for a good story but...it wasn't a good story (or rather was, but was told poorly). For example, Kari would be observing that there are multiple men in a room and then note that "he lit a cigarette and said _____"...with no defining of WHICH man in the room did it.
😴 Tell vs show imbalanced. We get lots of telling of how invested Kari is in solving what happened to her mother, but the actions don't back anything up. We get lots of show (often plopped in the middle of action or clues) about how she's doing things, like how she lights a cigarette, how she moves, arranges her face, gazes etc.
🫠 Not a horror. The horror is a B-plot at best, more like C-plot. I define horror as anything that could be horrific, including IRL happenings, but it's barely touched on even though so much could have been done to give voice to the indigenous experience and perspective of grief, trauma, and family.
🫥 Zero world building. She walk into a building. Is it a house? trailer? apartment? store? We know a LOT about the door she knocked on but nothing else. Real-life location name-dropping too. Sometimes we get a description but most of the time we are told lists of places she is visiting in these towns with nothing more, as if all us non-Colorado readers somehow know like, "yeah that place IS gnarly!"
😬 I can't speak at all to the accuracy or authenticity of the Indigenous rep in this book. Compared to other novels I've read, I thought this read as what non-indigenous people imagine the native experience to be. Lots of repetitive "what tribe are you?" but no progression beyond. Even if this was supposed to be a cathartic read for some, it felt off. It read more like 23-and-me + identifying other indigenous people because they say spiritual stuff or are one with nature. A lot of the characters were giving "Indian princess syndrome" where they romanticized white people but mentioned their "nativeness" when useful for getting away with things. I hope that makes sense, it's hard for me to know and I may be missing something really deep, cathartic, or symbolic. Would love to hear more from a variety of Indigenous readers and background for how they felt about this story and what it has to say.
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Character-based narrative about values, outlooks, opinions, and actions of a main character
- Off-the-rails self-sabotage and who-to-trust drama
- Murder victim paranormal/spiritual dream scenes, hallucinations, and seeing the past through their eyes
- Gritty, noir style stories
Content Heads-Up: Alcohol and drug use (intentional, self-medicating, partying, overdose, addiction). Brain injury disability. Parental abandonment (missing). Indigenous experience in US (not sure about accuracy, realism, commentary, or health). Sexual content (consenting, intoxicated). Controlling spouse. Blood.
Moderate: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Murder
chasingpages1's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Murder, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Torture, Racism, Stalking, War, Cursing, Gore, Body horror, Police brutality, Colonisation, Genocide, and Medical content
czoltak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Ableism, and Incest
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Grief, Alcoholism, Addiction, Murder, Gore, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Death, Chronic illness, Incest, Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Racism, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual violence and Sexual content
mfrisk'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? Yes
4.0
While there were some aspects I didn’t love such as Debby accepting Jake back into her life and the dismissiveness of his bad behavior I think at least leading up to that there is commentary around their relationship which shows how toxic it is. Otherwise loved where this story takes us and it’s discussion of tougher topics.
Graphic: Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Death, Child death, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gun violence, and Car accident
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism and Forced institutionalization
svarney23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Rape and Addiction
onemamareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Drug use, Death of parent, Gun violence, Alcohol, Misogyny, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, Addiction, Racism, Child abuse, Blood, Colonisation, Violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Body horror