Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Greenwood by Michael Christie

3 reviews

wordsmithreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

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

4.0

Wood is time captured. A map. A cellular memory. A record. This is why, Liam believes, carpenters like himself will never go out of business. Because people will always keep wood close: in our houses and on our floors, ceilings, and walls; in our trusted canes and our finest musical instruments; in our heirloom tables and old rocking chairs; and, most tellingly, in the very capsules that ease our journey into the ground. When carpenters call a piece of wood clear, they mean it is free of knots and wanes and blemishes. And during his many years of fussing over wood, cutting it to exact lengths and lovingly fitting it together just right, all before buffing it to a soul-warming shine, Liam Greenwood has often thought that people like clear wood best because they need to see time stacked together. Years pressed against years, all orderly and clean. Free from obstruction or blemish. The way our own lives never are. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Classism, Violence, Drug use, Colonisation, and Kidnapping

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Cancer, and Miscarriage

feathery's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Cancer, Bullying, Blood, Animal death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Classism, Addiction, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Gun violence, Ableism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Outing, Infertility, Vomit, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Excrement, Cursing, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Outing, Miscarriage, Rape, Murder, Abortion, and Sexual violence

hmatt's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

This one snuck up on me. At the start, I maybe expected the story to stay more in the speculative future and stick to that genre, but it really is much more historical fiction than anything.

It starts slower than I usually enjoy, but the characters really grew on me. I wasn't expecting the depth in the characterizations and the nuance within each character's storyline.

Imagine my joy at the low-key queer storyline AND how it resolved to be not-quite-as-tragic-as-it-could-have-been!

While I agree it was a necessary inclusion, the only character I couldn't quite connect with was Lomax.

The writing style plus the Canadian-centric setting really reminded me of Emily St. John Mandel, except perhaps more developed with a better plot than most of her work (sorry, I love her writing, but Station Eleven is a clear outlier when it comes to a solid plot).

I know this is a book that I will read again - I'm sure it's one of those ones where you notice so many more little details on the re-read. And I love that there's a book club kit for it (that has recipes).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Bullying and Emotional abuse