Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - Shutter

Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

10 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

This is an exceptionally gory and gritty mystery narrated by a Navajo crime scene photographer who converses with the ghosts of the dead. She has seen ghosts her whole life but now they pester her incessantly to solve their murders.

Outside of the violence, it’s a beautiful portrayal of Navajo connections between family and friends, describing the community, history, and culture. We see the insular life on the reservation and the casual discrimination of the cities.

Rita is a sympathetic character, plagued by the ghosts, struggling to find a balance between staying with her beloved grandma on the reservation and the necessary work she does in Albuquerque.

Two very small quibbles: I wasn’t convinced that she’d have that much influence as a civilian working for the police, and I found Erma’s aggression extreme. But I’ve never seen ghosts so I don’t really know what I’m talking about.

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winifara's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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jemau11's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-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

4.0

The depiction of Navajo culture and particularly how the Navajo see death was so interesting, and Rita was a complex and likable character. There are parts of the book that are hard to read, especially the scene in the judge’s house, but it’s necessary to understand what Rita’s job is really like. Definitely one of those where you should take the content warnings seriously, though. 4 stars because I didn’t like the way things wrapped up.

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arkwen452's review against another edition

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I'm not in a good headspace to connect or continue with this book with this move looming over my head. Will try to come back to it

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throwback682's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A young Navajo woman who can see ghosts works as a crime scene photographer and suspects her coworkers of dirty deeds. She has to simultaneously navigate her culture, family issues, and grief while being followed by angry ghosts bent on revenge who need her help.

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chanel_elise's review against another edition

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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.

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