Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

21 reviews

atreegrowsinbooks's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

What a strange dystopian thriller by Erdrich. Very different than the other books I’ve read by her. 

There were so many twists that I didn’t see coming and I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn’t able to guess everything that was happening. The character work and storytelling is so successful, and it’s clear that Erdrich can truly write anything. 

While I really enjoyed the writing, the content of this story was unsettling. Especially when women’s rights have been further taken away. In some aspects, the story isn’t that far off from what could happen. 

I haven’t read A Handmaid’s Tale, but I’ve seen the show and this book is definitely similar to that. This is an indigenous version that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a dystopian thriller with links to the real world as we know it. 

Fun fact, I picked this book up because the first page starts on my birthday 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Confinement

Moderate: Murder, Kidnapping, and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Abortion

kutreen's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

What a heartbreakingly beautiful book. My favorite in a long time. This book contained meditations on, and prompted some deep reflections of, the origin and future of life, humanity, family, religion, community, and reproductive rights. I loved the narrator and the premise that she (minor spoiler)

is writing to her future child.

I so appreciated getting to spend some time in her and Erdirch's mind. I appreciate learning a bit more about indigenous communities in the US through her novels as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Murder

Minor: Torture

sparklefarm's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

WHOOF. Not sure what convinced me, a melancholic woman living in Texas in these times, to read an all-too-believable near-future dystopian novel dealing with reproductive justice, other than the fact that it's written by Louise Erdrich. Ultimately, she once again did. not. miss. with this book. I could have picked a better time to read it though. 😆 That being said, I don't know that I've ever read a book this dystopian and this full of wonder, possibility, and hope. In our current landscape as in a chaotic, terrifying, possible future, we can hold both.

Ending -

I appreciated that we did not end in a happy smiley way (it seemed at some points that it could!) as that would feel disingenuous to the story. And yet to leave Cedar at her most vulnerable, most alone, and least likely to escape, was the most gut-wrenching way to end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Murder, Mental illness, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Torture and Suicidal thoughts

insanebookperson's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Vomit, Murder, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, Grief, Torture, Confinement, Cursing, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Violence

spookyaz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Misogyny

professor_jango's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Miscarriage, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Torture

lamegod's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Confinement, and Kidnapping

Minor: Racism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Cursing, Abortion, Blood, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Vomit

nostradamnus's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Read this if you want to: explore the political climate of the late 2010s/early 2020s through fiction;  read about real, specific people navigating the end of the present world; and/or be made deeply aware of your body and its evolutionary history. Also, if you're into transitionary dystopias.

It's very frustrating to like this book less than The Handmaid's Tale because I think this book is arguably better--it has higher and more specific spec-to-fic ratio, characters that were real, and a really graphic description of watching someone give birth--but I read THT years ago, and I read FHOTLG in 2023. It's the day after my state put in an emergency stop for all trans healthcare. Roe v. Wade is dead. Abortion pills may be next. And I think right now, forced birthing centers, pregnancy policing, and a rising Christo-fascist government just feel a bit too real. 

Maybe I'll be able to reread this in a few years and be able to really take it all in, appreciate it for what it is, but wrong place, wrong time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, and Misogyny

Moderate: Torture and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Infertility, and Suicidal thoughts

zelephante's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Mental illness, Death, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Torture

sephypear's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

3.75

When reading this book, I would be absolutely engrossed until something pulled me away; and then I'd be hesitant to pick it back up.
This story was engrossing, the atmosphere was tense and palpable.
Do I recommend? Yes. Will I read again? I'm not sure I can put myself through it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, and Child death

Moderate: Miscarriage and Blood

Minor: Suicide, Abortion, and Torture