Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

8 reviews

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.5

It only gets points for the kind of fun setting and indigenous rep, sorry 🤷‍♀️ otherwise I kinda hated it lol.

I did not enjoy reading it, I had to force myself to finish it for a book club, and I had sooo many issues with it that completely took me out of the story. Like her awful friends wtf??? They were horrible and I really hope they weren't inspired by the author's real friends lol. What kind of friends automatically ask if you've murdered someone or destroyed your own apartment?? I wanted to like the supernatural element, and it was one of the few things keeping me interested, but there could've been so much more done with it. I felt like a lot of the conversations, situations, and relationships just made no sense. I truly don't know how this was long listed for the National Book Prize. Like how.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Grief, Blood, Murder, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Colonisation, and Racism

Minor: Pedophilia, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

eicart_reads's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Racism, Colonisation, and Grief

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal death, Terminal illness, and Bullying

hayleemarie's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Colonisation

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

phantasmaboo's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.0

Shutter follows Rita, a young Navajo (Diné) woman who works as a forensic photographer at a police station. Rita, however, is plagued by ghosts and has been since her infancy. Things take a turn when a particularly stubborn ghost won't let Rita go until she has helped solve her murder. 

I wanted to like this book so badly, and I did like most of it, but it really fell apart in the final 25% or so. Unlike the book description, the book is largely character-driven, exploring Rita's past and how she came to be the person is today. That being said, I had a hard time reconciling the Rita in the present with the Rita in the past. They seemed like two very different people rather than a person who grew into the other. The portions of the book written in the past were so touching and deep while the present portions seemed surface-level, dry, and patchy. Overall, the writing was just uneven.

Finally, the plot wasn't all that surprising to me, but the way the ending was written was like the author simply wanted the book to end. The characters became nonsensical farces of themselves and it makes their behavior very unbelievable. For example,

going to a nightclub and getting high after witnessing a murder

It really lost me at the end and I wish that the modern portions had as much depth as the portions where Rita was a child. 

Overall, I give it 3 stars. I would definitely read more by this author again, but I hope that in the future their writing becomes more even. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Addiction and Colonisation

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

I was so into this book I bought a copy of it on audio to supplement my library ebook copy. I wanted to get through it. It hooked me from the premise when I saw a hard copy in a book store, I knew I had to read it, and I'm glad I got to.

The story was propulsive, with believable (if not overly deep) characters and a fairly tight plot. I enjoyed the back and forth timeline. Aspects of Navajo beliefs, culture, and family history/life were woven in to a crime drama which didn't rely too heavily on trope.

I'd recommend to anyone who has a strong stomach for gore, appreciates a "gritty," dry female protagonist, and/or whose guilty pleasure is police procedurals but agrees with ACAB.

Edit/note: read ebook + listened to audiobook

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Gore, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Colonisation, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

softanimal's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Car accident, Colonisation, and Death of parent

sjanke2's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Death, Violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Colonisation, Drug use, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Grief, Gun violence, and Police brutality

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, and Child death

Moderate: Racism and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Blood, Dementia, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury