Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Chasseurs d'étoiles by Cherie Dimaline

13 reviews

schausjk's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I started this book immediately after finishing the first, but I almost wish I'd waited longer between books. I kept finding continuity errors that I probably otherwise wouldn't've if it had more time for the story to rest in my brain and for me to forget small details. After all the revelations about Minerva and the power she carried, I really would have thought there would have been more acknowledgement of what she did. The author shared in the afterword that there wasn't originally going to be a sequel to The Marrow Thieves, and it really shows. If this had been originally set up to be a book with sequels, some of the things that exist in the second book could've been more deftly woven into the worldbuilding. 

The Frenchie plot was an interesting and emotional take on the deep horror of residential schools. Aside from that, most of the emotional beats didn't quite hit as deeply as they did in the first one. That being said, I still appreciated being able to see more of the characters.

My rating honestly would've been lower, but I've seen several low reviews out there specifically complaining about the book's so-called "forced diversity" (ugh.) by not making white people the focus in a specifically indigenous book (which... what??) and through the inclusion of a gay couple and a two-spirit character, so I'm rating it a bit higher out of spite for those other reviewers.

TLDR: Not a bad book, but not nearly as well put together as the first one was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Cannibalism

Minor: Child death and Drug use

tales_told_in_gold's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Cannibalism and Pandemic/Epidemic

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Genocide, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Trafficking, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Infertility, Ableism, and Cannibalism

Minor: Terminal illness, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide, Abandonment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Slavery, and Vomit

Residential schools.

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

Heartbreaking and healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Cannibalism, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Medical content, Grief, and Trafficking

carlyoc's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

After reuniting with his father at the end of book 1, French now wakes up in a Residential School unsure how he got there. In this dystopian world, those schools with a history of devastating Indigenous cultures in North America have been repurposed as institutions for extracting bone marrow from First Nations individuals in order to cure a dreamless plague that beset humanity that they are immune too. French must make difficult decisions to make his way out and rejoin his family. 
Meanwhile, Rose , the girl French loves, sets out to rescue him immediatel  rather than wait for a well-informed plan. 
In this edition we are introduced to many more antagonists than the School recruiters that haunted Book One. A corrupt chief who takes advantage of thr apocalypse to build himself a vampiric cult. Traitors who use their identity to trap and turn in their own kinsmen. And suburban housewives turned vigilantes willing to kidnap and murder, all in the name of "doing it for their children."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Genocide, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Cannibalism

augustar14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

If possible,  maybe even better than the first book.  But honestly, both need read together,  in order,  carefully.  This book is incredibly well written, adds new layers and levels to the lives of every character from the first book,  and brings new characters with different experiences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Confinement, Colonisation, Torture, Genocide, Cursing, Cannibalism, Violence, Grief, Classism, Abandonment, Blood, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Gun violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

lenaricharz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Torture, Trafficking, Death, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Slavery, Medical trauma, and Blood

Moderate: Cannibalism

alexalily's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Medical content, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Racism, Infertility, Child death, Sexual assault, and Animal death

isabellesbookroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Pregnancy, Murder, Medical trauma, Cannibalism, Blood, Genocide, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Minor: Rape

whitedaylilies's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A thrilling sequel that I didn’t know I needed! I absolutely fell in love with Cherie Dimaline’s story and characters in The Marrow Thieves and was so excited to come across this next part of the adventure. The characters are so rich and the writing is so compelling. I read this entire book in one day, which is very rare for me. I will admit that I listened to the audio at the same time so that sped things up for this slow reader…and the narration was superb!  This story pulled at the heart strings so many times. The love that this family has for each other is just so beautiful and palpable! The stakes are so high for them and they just keep surviving, keep protecting each other, keep telling their stories and sharing the bits of language that they remember. As an ancestor of colonists to Turtle Island, I do the work I can to unlearn the false history and systemic racism that I grew up with, and stories like this are so important for teaching that if we are not careful that past becomes the future and that can never be allowed to happen again (and many would agree that the “past” is still present for Indigenous People of Turtle Island).  I highly recommend this book and it’s first…go read immediately!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Sexual violence, Gore, Medical content, Blood, Cannibalism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Torture