Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius

3 reviews

franzeerdbeerbacke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Self harm, Stalking, Infertility, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Death, Grief, Police brutality, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Hate crime, Genocide, Racism, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Blood, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gun violence

mweis's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I usually don’t put a lot of faith in comp titles, but in this case calling Stolen “Louise Erdrich meets Jo Nesbø” is very accurate. The book follows Elsa, a Sámi girl and who witnesses the murder of her reindeer when at the start of the book. As the plot continues we see the struggle of the Sámi people as they battle racism and hate crimes and climate change and other factors that are threatening their way of life. While Elsa is the main character, we do get chapters from other POVs including of the man who is torturing and killing reindeer so major trigger warning for animal cruelty here as there are some graphic depictions.

I think what this book does well is immerses the reader into the Sámi way of life and the struggles they face due to the other people’s hatred, an indifferent police and government, climate change, and more. The writing is also very immersive and well suited to such a bleak story. That being said, the pacing of this was off for me. That might be because I came in expecting more of a mystery plot, but we know from the beginning who the culprit is, so the book is more of a family saga than a mystery. But even after I readjusted my expectations, there were places where the story dragged for me.

Overall, I’m glad I read this book and I do recommend it if you’re in the mood for a fairly bleak family saga centering a Sámi community.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Animal death, and Racism

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Suicide

mellysay's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

Den här boken är verkligen en fantastiskt  verklig historia om hur det är att vara same och renskötare idag. Ett stort tack till Ann-Helén Laestadius för att du skrivit den här boken och jag ångrar så att jag inte läst den tidigare. Den är så otroligt hjärtskärande och gripande. Jag önskar alla fick en chans att läsa den här boken någon gång i livet, den berättar en sån viktig historia. Den är en gnutta långdragen och det tog lång tid att läsa den, i vissa delar hände det inte jätte mycket men mot slutet tog den fart igen och de sista 100 sidorna kunde jag inte lägga ifrån mig boken. Ett mästerverk. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Stalking, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Murder, Mental illness, Bullying, Animal death, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Death, Dementia, Cursing, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Alcoholism, Blood, and Body horror