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Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Trafficking
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual content, Toxic friendship
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment
The writing ranges from dry to pointedly (in other words, unnaturally) quotable, and the dialogue is somehow even more stilted and unrealistically grammatically flawless than the narration. A few spoken lines toward the end literally go on uninterrupted and with no stuttering or backtracking for 100+ words; virtually no one, let alone who's suffered recent repeated physical trauma, is that eloquent. Information is revealed in stilted blocks and repeated ten times over. I don't think any teenager -- or person at all -- in the history of cell phones has ever texted like the teenagers in this book are written as doing.
In terms of substance, there's a lot left to be desired as well. All of the individual narrative threads -- or at least most of them -- would make interesting stories, but here they're all kind of crammed into one unbalanced mess. Is the central plot supposed to be Daunis's complex relationship with her family members and community? Her desire to pursue a career in medicine/science and unite traditional and more modern "scientific" practices? Her recovering from and learning about the factors leading up to her best friend's sudden, tragic death? Her role as an undercover informant in an FBI investigation involving meth and her community (as much suspension of disbelief as that requires)? Her and Jamie's relationship? A general critical overview of the treatment of Indigenous women in American and Canadian society? It's never really decided, and so we jump awkwardly from one to the other without more natural transitions or better multitasking, leading to really overall odd pacing.
The general emotional pacing never quite hits either. A significant medical detail about the protagonist is made explicit for the first time 70% in and never serves any real relevance (and is outright contradicted or ignored at other times). Major traumatic events like the murder of Daunis's best friend and
The characters -- including, perhaps especially Daunis -- lack depth, whittled down to one trait (not even one that is shown, but told... multiple times). The supporting cast especially kind of blends together as a result of that weird pacing and unrealistic, stilted dialogue. I couldn't get a real sense of any of their motivations, so the culprit reveal and relationships all feel more than lackluster. In that regard, the romance is particularly egregious, even putting aside the core issues with
Overall, quite disappointing execution of multiple interesting premises, and I remain bewildered by the overwhelmingly positive response. Perhaps it was a great book for many others, but nothing about it ended up clicking or sitting well with me.
(Also, urine, even your own, is not actually sterile! Please do not use it as a substitute for hydrogen peroxide. I know this is set in 2004 -- as little as there is to solidly ground it there -- and a lot of people believe that myth even today, but it just feels... irresponsible to include in a book like this, especially framed as an objective valuable fact.)
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Alcohol
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Vomit
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Murder
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment
Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Murder
Moderate: Drug abuse