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chanel_elise's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
This story had potential, a Navajo woman that can see ghosts and her occupation is a crime scene photographer, sign me up! Unfortunately, this fell short. The story could have benefited from more editing, as there was a lot of repetition. Also I can admire a person interest in things that I have little to no knowledge about, but this story spends so much time talking about cameras and photography that it began to make me skim read those parts. Too many characters that did not add value to the story or were quickly mentioned. As for the ghost seeing part, I thought that would have taken the bulk of the story but it did not.
The book goes from present to past events, alternating chapters of her current job/life to chapters about her upbringing and past. From reading the blurb I thought this book was going to be about a crime scene photographer that solved murders through getting clues from the victims ghost, and then Rita having to find creative ways of exposing the evidence without her explicitly saying “well the ghost told me.” This book is about one case and Rita’s struggle to live in a world that does not take her “gift” seriously. There are some disturbing details when Rita describes crime scenes and then goes on in live as if nothing happened. The tone was just off.
The book goes from present to past events, alternating chapters of her current job/life to chapters about her upbringing and past. From reading the blurb I thought this book was going to be about a crime scene photographer that solved murders through getting clues from the victims ghost, and then Rita having to find creative ways of exposing the evidence without her explicitly saying “well the ghost told me.” This book is about one case and Rita’s struggle to live in a world that does not take her “gift” seriously. There are some disturbing details when Rita describes crime scenes and then goes on in live as if nothing happened. The tone was just off.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, and Child death
awebofstories's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Car accident, Gun violence, Drug use, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Police brutality
lisaarnsdorf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Having heard several interviews with the author, I was expecting a pretty gruesome book; she sure delivered. The opening was almost shocking in its explicit descriptions of a murder scene.
Overall, I really liked this book. My main complaints are: 1) the author uses an alternating timeline, with every other chapter being in the past and the present. As the two timelines converged, I started to get really confused about where we were in time. And the past timeline dragged on a little too long. 2) The ending was morally ambiguous and too convenient. It felt like a cop-out in some regards.
I hope this becomes a series because it's a really interesting premise!
Overall, I really liked this book. My main complaints are: 1) the author uses an alternating timeline, with every other chapter being in the past and the present. As the two timelines converged, I started to get really confused about where we were in time. And the past timeline dragged on a little too long. 2) The ending was morally ambiguous and too convenient. It felt like a cop-out in some regards.
I hope this becomes a series because it's a really interesting premise!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Car accident, Death, Child death, and Gore
sasisaskia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Drug use
mayhem9683's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Terminal illness, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Murder, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, and Eating disorder
j_squaredd's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I think they did a disservice by marketing this book as a thriller. It only gets fast paced and thriller-y in the last quarter. The first three quarters is quite slow with not a lot of plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Child death, Death, Murder, Gore, Gun violence, and Blood
Moderate: Alcohol, Racism, Car accident, Kidnapping, and Drug use
laughatlantis's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
tense
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
4.75
This book is part haunting & eerie ghost story, part fast-paced & gruesome crime thriller, part love letter to photography, and part insight into Navajo life & culture. Beautifully written, occasionally hard to read because of the depth of content. Fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body horror, Death, Violence, and Gun violence
kmpuzzled's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
I don't usually read thrillers, a trend that is probably pretty obvious if you even cursorily follow my reviews, but I was intrigued by this one that made the National Book Award longlist. It's not really that common, at least in my recreational following of the award, for a book categorized as a "thriller" to make the list. (Side note: shout out to libro.fm for the advanced listerner's copy!) And so, here we are.
Rita Todacheene works for the Albuquerque Police Department as a forensic photographer. She's loved cameras and taking photos since she was a child, and this was one of the only options she could find that provided her a stable income and the chance to take photos. It is, perhaps, just inconvenient (or is it more like fate) that she is also secretly able to see ghosts. In her job, they sometimes point her to clues that others have overlooked. In her personal life, it caused quite a bit of strife, as her superstitious Navajo reservation community treated her differently, isolated (with the exception of her grandmother, who raised her), once they found out about her taboo ability. Rita has figured out a way to, for the most part, shut out the ghosts, but the victim of a recent case she photographed just will not leave her alone...and the ghost's push for vengeance will lead Rita into a dangerous cartel inside-man/cover-up situation.
Well, I can see what made this particular thriller special, a literary sort of mystery, that could get it added to the NBA longlist. The writing is...incredibly evocative. I literally made the note "shit, this opening descriptive monologue is visceral" after the first couple pages. And then it never let up. It's intense, I can't lie. The specifics and particulars of the crime scenes Rita photographs are not for the faint-hearted. Seriously, it's an onslaught of gruesome murder scenes and details. Please be ready: all the content warnings for death and violent death and blood and disfigurement, etc. But the use of the photographs and the perspective of the photographer as a narrative device works really well. It adds so much to the tangibility of the narrative. This is just writing that sticks to your bones. And I enjoyed the way the ending took “making peace with death” to a whole new/different level.
Rita's personal development throughout the novel was kept me interested. The story is told in dual storylines. One of the past, as Rita grows up and realizes both that she has the "gift" of seeing ghosts, as well as the turbulent home life that she was thrust into off the reservation as a result of the visions of ghosts and communication with the dead that people’s superstitions made it too hard to live alongside. One in the present, as Rita struggles to help her victim's ghost get answers, and revenge, while trying to balance her own relationships and jobs and normal life stressors. It took me longer to get into the “past” storyline, but about halfway through it got more compelling for me, and the way it built from there, alongside their mystery in the present, balanced well. I loved Rita's relationship with her grandmother, it was an overall highlight, for me, as it was nuanced and genuine in both its flaws and its fullness. Tied in with that, the thread of Navajo culture/traditions/beliefs and contemporary history interspersed lightly, but thoroughly, throughout was phenomenal. It was beautifully tender and esteemed, while Emerson showed great insight into the complexities of the advantages and disadvantages of being raised solely on the reservation versus in combination with off-reservation life (both the involuntary, like the residential schools, and the self-determined).
Interestingly, I feel like the literary side of this novel overshadowed the mystery/thriller aspects a little too much. Like, I felt a weirdly low amount of tension while reading, considering the intensity and high-stakes of the plot and the life-threatening situations Rita finds herself in. Also, there was some plot stuff that either didn't feel right or wasn't my cup of tea. First, and this is my thing with thrillers, something always happens that feels too convenient or easy (in this case, the party photos) and, really, information she gets from a “retired” detective seemed like it came too easy (like, is he not afraid of backlash or whatever?!). Also, unrelated to most of the rest of the plot, she had a one-night stand with a guy who then never came back...and he was supposed to? It felt like both an unnecessary plot point that then turned into a loose/hanging thread by the end and I felt we could have done without that half-hearted attempt to highlight that Rita "also has a personal life/life outside work." Her friends felt similarly "iffy" as far as their development and role(s) in the greater plot - more convenient that worth being developed in their own right.
Overall, I just don't know about this one. I realize that I might be biased because it's not my typical genre. And there were parts that were great - the writing was a real highlight and the cultural aspects were phenomenal. I also thought the concept was so cool, the idea of ghosts helping a forensic photographer find evidence to capture is wonderful in theory and vision. But the plot and development left something to be desired. And the combination of literary fiction and thriller wasn't enough of either/both together. So, in the end, this maybe was just...not enough...for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Murder, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment, Drug use, Racism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Child death, and Trafficking
Minor: Sexual content, Stalking, and Pregnancy
deedireads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Shutter is a fast-paced, character-driven paranormal thriller that doesn’t quite knock it out of the park, but does some interesting things and definitely holds your attention.
For you if: You don’t mind gore and want to read more genre fiction by Indigenous authors.
FULL REVIEW:
Shutter is a fast-paced, Indigenous, paranormal thriller that was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction this year. While a lot of people are ranking it last on the list (including, probably, me) and scratching their heads about its nomination, I do think it does some interesting things that are worth talking about.
The story is about a Navajo woman named Rita who takes forensic photos for the Albuquerque police department for a living. She can also see and talk to ghosts — has for her whole life. We jump back and forth between the present day, where one woman’s ghost pushes Rita into the thick of some dangerous corruption in order to solve her murder, and the past, as Rita was raised by her grandmother on a reservation, fell in love with cameras, and struggled with a gift that was feared (and often, understandably, disbelieved) by her community.
The thing about this book is that it doesn’t quite feel like literary fiction but also doesn’t quite feel like a thriller, which is why I think it’s leaving readers on both sides a little underwhelmed. It wasn’t really a mystery, at least not to us as readers; there’s no big twist to the present-day storyline, just a steady build to an explosive ending. Still, it does have momentum (I read it in one afternoon, aided by the audiobook).
I think the chapters set in the past are the ones that earned this book its NBA nomination; Emerson really explores a lot in these sections about home and community, childhood trauma, an absent mother, and how we can escape our ghosts (literally and metaphorically) while still carrying our loved ones with us — especially using photography as a way to do both.
One last thing to note: Be aware that the opening chapter of this book has some pretty lengthy, graphic descriptions of pieces of a dead body scattered all over the ground. It was a notable opening, but kind of a lot.
Anyway, if you’re curious about this one, I think it’s worth picking up just to challenge your notion of genre and look for the things the NBA judges found. It’s a quick read regardless!
TL;DR REVIEW:
Shutter is a fast-paced, character-driven paranormal thriller that doesn’t quite knock it out of the park, but does some interesting things and definitely holds your attention.
For you if: You don’t mind gore and want to read more genre fiction by Indigenous authors.
FULL REVIEW:
Shutter is a fast-paced, Indigenous, paranormal thriller that was longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction this year. While a lot of people are ranking it last on the list (including, probably, me) and scratching their heads about its nomination, I do think it does some interesting things that are worth talking about.
The story is about a Navajo woman named Rita who takes forensic photos for the Albuquerque police department for a living. She can also see and talk to ghosts — has for her whole life. We jump back and forth between the present day, where one woman’s ghost pushes Rita into the thick of some dangerous corruption in order to solve her murder, and the past, as Rita was raised by her grandmother on a reservation, fell in love with cameras, and struggled with a gift that was feared (and often, understandably, disbelieved) by her community.
The thing about this book is that it doesn’t quite feel like literary fiction but also doesn’t quite feel like a thriller, which is why I think it’s leaving readers on both sides a little underwhelmed. It wasn’t really a mystery, at least not to us as readers; there’s no big twist to the present-day storyline, just a steady build to an explosive ending. Still, it does have momentum (I read it in one afternoon, aided by the audiobook).
I think the chapters set in the past are the ones that earned this book its NBA nomination; Emerson really explores a lot in these sections about home and community, childhood trauma, an absent mother, and how we can escape our ghosts (literally and metaphorically) while still carrying our loved ones with us — especially using photography as a way to do both.
One last thing to note: Be aware that the opening chapter of this book has some pretty lengthy, graphic descriptions of pieces of a dead body scattered all over the ground. It was a notable opening, but kind of a lot.
Anyway, if you’re curious about this one, I think it’s worth picking up just to challenge your notion of genre and look for the things the NBA judges found. It’s a quick read regardless!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Racism, and Drug use