Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Empire of Wild

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

11 reviews

danielles_reads's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.75

But she had grown complacent, had forgotten that there was always room to be afraid. All fear had to do was let doubt do the dirty work and then it could move right in, past the rubble of a person's defences.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I was really into it at the beginning, and found Joan's journey really compelling. It started to go downhill a bit when there were so many chapters from other characters' points of view instead of Joan's (I remember saying to my husband that I thought the book was about Joan but most chapters are from everyone else's POVs - and like was Heiser's POV really necessary?). But I really wanted to find out what the hell was going on with Victor, and I thought I had sort of figured it out. But then the ending was so abrupt, vague, and kind of depressing that it made everything that led up to it fizzle out in my brain and feel a bit pointless.

Spoiler ramblings:

So Zeus was taken by a rogarou?? And then went to Ajean's house and she's going to fight him off?? What even happened with Victor? So he was stuck in the woods while the rogarou wore his body (?) and did whatever? But then the rogarou looked like a wolf when it killed Mere? Was Robe the rogarou since Heiser was just the "handler" / wolfssegen? Or was it a different entity entirely? I really just don't understand what the fuck happened. Oh and it was very convenient that Cecile ended up killing herself out of stupidity and Heiser died in a car accident. Very convenient indeed.

I'm just really mad at the ending. Nothing ended up making sense at all and I feel like the explanation I had created in my head for Victor's disappearance was so much better than what was actually shown. Plus it ends on a kind of depressing cliffhanger right after Joan and Victor reunite, so we don't get any satisfaction from their reunion. They basically just hug and then it's on to the next thing. We spent the entire book trying to get Victor back and that was it???

Also like the book is advertised as being inspired by "the traditional Canadian Métis legend of the rogarou" but from what I understood of the ending, Bavarian folklore actually drove the entire story?? There were a few scenes of Joan thinking about the stories she heard growing up of the rogarou but there was never any real horror with one other than Victor's chapters, kind of. I wanted a lot more of the rogarou! I did learn stuff about the Métis that I didn't know... like I didn't know they were all "halfbreeds"!

I did really like Dimaline's prose though. It's very poetic without being purple or flowery. She had some really interesting similes and metaphors that seemed a bit weird at first but made perfect sense and led to easier visualizations. I wish I had written down some of the odder ones, but as a few examples: "The trees closed in on both sides like an evergreen cross-stitch" and "She turned to see a small bar, hanging like a comma off the end of the motel wing." The prose flowed very well and was easy to read.

I did like Joan, and her ruminations on Catholic guilt and indigenous culture were very interesting. Her relationship with Zeus was really cute, though it did seem like Zeus loved her more than she loved him. At first I was really invested in her and Victor's relationship, and seeing them reunite, but as the book went on it seemed like they only really had a sexual relationship. Like all Joan ever thought about was having sex with him. And yeah, it is understandable to miss that part of your husband, but she barely thought about anything else so we hardly learn anything about them other than they were obsessed with fucking. And like... ok lol.

There was also one moment in the book that was so obviously written by someone who didn't understand social media culture that literally took me out of the story because I had to look up how old Dimaline is lol (she's Gen X). For one, Zeus is 12 years old and apparently knows how to use Facebook better than Joan, in her 30s, does. But it was really the fact that Zeus was looking up the Facebook profile of a girl who was explicitly said to be born in 1998 (aka on the cusp of Gen Z) and posting emo photography a la 2012-era Tumblr or Instagram with location tags. Like dude. What Gen Zer is using Facebook nowadays? And on top of that, what Gen Zer is posting emo filtered photos on Facebook?? Makes no freaking sense. Anyway, it was a small moment but it was a huge driver for the plot so I can't get over it lol.

It seems a little unfair to rate this under 3 stars since I thought the book was going to be a solid 4 stars up until like the 90% mark. But the more I think about this book the more irritated I get at the ending! I'm still open to reading more of Cherie Dimaline's work, but it's not as much of a priority anymore as it was before I read this. I can't deal with abrupt and open endings, especially in standalones, and I hope this is not typical of her work.

I gotta say, though, one of the best parts of reading this was holding the floppy paperback, lol. I don't buy that many books but I did buy this one, and reading a paperback you own is a lot more satisfying than one from the library that is all laminated and stiff lol.

"Sometimes we have to do what we have to do, even if that means working in the mines. What are we supposed to do? Stay poor? Would that prove to you that we're Indian enough?"
"No, my love." Mere was serene now that she had successfully made her point. "We are supposed to stay right with community. That's how we know we're Indian enough. The companies are out to take it all, you know. We shouldn't just hand it over."

Content Warnings

rachaelwho's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

5.0

A few places dragged, a few bits were too on the nose. Nothing worth dropping a star over, I liked this one very much and there were some very interesting and creative ideas and turns of phrase. Great wo ld-building, I appreciate that the reader is expected to know something about native people or look it up. The uncanny image of

the rougarou dancing away too fast for comprehension

really creeped me the fuck out and lingered. There were several well-set-up heartbreaks that I knew were leading somewhere and when I figured them out I consciously thought "oh, noooo" but was desperate to keep reading to see them fulfilled. Excellent narration by Michelle St John.

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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avisreadsandreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

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bibliodyke's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

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_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book wasn't what I expected bc I thought it was gonna be more on the traditional, melancholic missing persons stuff (Book Riot misleading recs strikes again for me lol) but this is a fantasy almost fairy tale like adventure with Indigenous culture and issues thrown in for cohesiveness, and funny to boot, so it was even better. I wasn't too impressed with the writing at first but the author won me over. I was even handling the Evangelical Christians bashing in name of anti capitalism and all that bc even though I believe in God I'm aware this religion is beyond help until that weak ass unnecessary last minute drama reveal ending and the kid

being turned into a damn rogarou wtf

, it was so annoying! But I really enjoyed the story and Joan's quest and her love for this dude (and Victor's for her, very swoony) for like 90% and how as plot driven and fast the story is it also felt immersive and didactic for me as a reader outside of the community. It was fun reading these characters and appreciating their culture. Only the ending robbed it from being completely amazing to me.

Content Warnings

tree_star's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense

5.0

The only thing I didn't like about this book is the 30 seconds of on page pet murder. Oh hey, CW: Pet abuse/ murder, blood, substance abuse, religious abuse.

I loved this book. I was drawn into the story from the start and kept getting sucked in further and further and actually holding my breath there at the end-!

Scary but unexpected in its execution, the Monster discovery is thrilling, mysterious, and intrepid.
These characters are as flawed as they are likeable, and the storytelling is just magnificent.

Solid 5 stars.

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

- EMPIRE OF WILD on one level reads as a wild mystery adventure, but look a little closer and it's actually a tale of the horrors of colonization.
- This book is full of messy characters (some of whom I thought could have stood to have a little more page time) and you're rooting for Joan the whole way. I was turning pages as fast as I could, and the final showdown had me gripped.
- The ending seems to have people split, and I can see why - if you read this book, come talk to me about what you think happens!

Content Warnings

alexiswiththefreckles's review against another edition

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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

notthatlibrarian's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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