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kaitlynlw_04's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-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
5.0
hilaryannbrown's review against another edition
3.0
Hovering between a 3 and 4 on this one. It gave me a lot to think about and I even got teary at the last line. I thought this book would be about the experience of indigenous adoptees who were raised away from their people. It ended up being more about climate change, eugenics, and forced pregnancy. This book takes way too much from The Handmaid's Tale without acknowledging that as its source. If the premise of this book had been that it's a retelling of The Handmaid's Tale that centers indigenous women...I would've bought in to the story more.
birdybutt24's review against another edition
5.0
i cried reading this. beautiful depiction of the resilience of people, i especially loved the structure of the book and the way information about events slowly emerged from the characters limited understanding. definitely something to look back on and draw from in writing dystopian literature
kaleyamo's review against another edition
3.0
It's not a requirement for me that a book has loose ends tied up nicely in a bow in order for me to classify that book as "good."
That's definitely the case here. This book is good. But I'm struggling with the book overall because I don't understand the motivations behind certain actions. I'm looking for the long-term goal of certain characters, and I can't figure it out. The author doesn't clue us in.
It's definitely an intentional choice. It's one I can respect the author for. But it's still one that I, personally, struggle with as a reader.
I can't see the end goal here. And it drives me crazy.
Also — it's less than 300 pages, but it felt like it took me an exceptionally long time to read. I wouldn't exactly say it was slow. It's more that there was so much happening that I would feel that I'd read 20 pages only to look at the page number and realize it'd only been four.
This is a good, well-written book. It's just not among my favorites because of my own personal preferences.
That's definitely the case here. This book is good. But I'm struggling with the book overall because I don't understand the motivations behind certain actions. I'm looking for the long-term goal of certain characters, and I can't figure it out. The author doesn't clue us in.
It's definitely an intentional choice. It's one I can respect the author for. But it's still one that I, personally, struggle with as a reader.
I can't see the end goal here. And it drives me crazy.
Also — it's less than 300 pages, but it felt like it took me an exceptionally long time to read. I wouldn't exactly say it was slow. It's more that there was so much happening that I would feel that I'd read 20 pages only to look at the page number and realize it'd only been four.
This is a good, well-written book. It's just not among my favorites because of my own personal preferences.
kat42's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.0
I read this for an English class in college, and I think that helped me appreciate it more. Although the dystopian/weird evolution stuff is an important backdrop, this leans much more towards literary fiction in my opinion. So don't go into it expecting really heavy scifi. If that's what you're looking for, I think you'll be disappointed, but it's a solid book.
timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed reading this. I loved the narrator, and the other characters were also fantastic (Eddy's articles were amazing!). However, I found the story itself weirdly inconsistent. Sometimes quite light, obviously sometimes very dark. Sometimes frighteningly or hilariously realistic, other times......not. I liked the *idea* of the going backwards both socially and biologically, but the biology wasn't very developed (perhaps thankfully) and I found it distracting.
kennonstewart's review against another edition
5.0
I liked this book much more than I thought I would. So much so that I had to come back and give it 5 stars.
This is my first Erdrich read and I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't expect a Native person who reveled in their conversion to Catholicism. I didn't expect this tension to produce such lush imagery and symbolism throughout the book (and the gorgeous title). And I didn't expect Cedar's voice to be so austere and captivating. Her inner monologue reminds me a bit of Ling Ma's Candace from Severance with the religious iconography of the Book of Lamentations (Castellanos, not the original).
This makes for a harrowing, but delightful, read. I wish I would've considered it during the winter when the gloomy weather allows me to focus more on the characters and their personalities. Since I was reading it in sunshine, the sunshine definitely juxtaposed the dystopian themes. This is the fault of the reader, not the author.
This is my first Erdrich read and I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't expect a Native person who reveled in their conversion to Catholicism. I didn't expect this tension to produce such lush imagery and symbolism throughout the book (and the gorgeous title). And I didn't expect Cedar's voice to be so austere and captivating. Her inner monologue reminds me a bit of Ling Ma's Candace from Severance with the religious iconography of the Book of Lamentations (Castellanos, not the original).
This makes for a harrowing, but delightful, read. I wish I would've considered it during the winter when the gloomy weather allows me to focus more on the characters and their personalities. Since I was reading it in sunshine, the sunshine definitely juxtaposed the dystopian themes. This is the fault of the reader, not the author.
mmilligan94's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I wanted more to the story. What were the new babies like? Too much was missing for me to get lost in the story or get invested in the characters. By the time Cedar had the baby I didn’t really care anymore. I like the unsettling, messy ending though.