Reviews with content warning for Violence - Winter Counts

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

80 reviews

kkreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious 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

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aimiller's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An intense, compelling, fascinating read. The stakes are so high from minute one, and the issues about drug trafficking, jurisdictional issues with justice, and the complications of finances on reservations are made abundantly clear without coming across as patronizing or particularly pain-porn in tone. I had a hard time putting this down, especially in the last third, and my heart was racing the entire time! Definitely recommend for folks wanting to read more books by Native authors—I think it’s deeply approachable, and grabs you in the opening chapter and doesn’t let up the whole time!

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brookey8888's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This started off really strong, but then I lost interest with where the story went. I loved learning more about Indian customs and beliefs. I also thought it was great/important that the author talked about how the feds literally do nothing to help in cases and the drug problems. I just wish this focused more on his vigilante stuff.

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spiderwitch'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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eeenou's review against another edition

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dark informative medium-paced

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

3.5

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jennifer_bush_73's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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readundancies's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? No

3.75

I don't read crime thrillers all that often, so for the first half of the novel I found myself questioning why I wasn't as engaged as I felt I should've been.

Am I just not into crime thrillers? The jury's still out on that.

Because the second started to pick up in pace and that's when I started to become more emotionally invested.

It was definitely a slow start though. The pacing was slow throughout the first half and it was a lot of establishing the characters and the community. The characterization was fine, but not very deep; I felt like I didn’t really get to know some of the characters the way I’d have liked to. I also had a hard time connecting with the characters because I'm not a very spiritual person, but that's on me. From a learning perspective? I was fascinated and excited to learn about the Lakota way of life, the customs that are followed, and how they interpret the world around them. Getting to hear from a Lakota perspective in Virgil’s character was eye-opening and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I wasn't 100% sold on Marie and Virgil as a couple. It just seemed a little too easy between them because they were overly comfortable with one another. In contrast, Virgil and Tommy’s friendship was great. Even though at times it seemed more like Virgil was using Tommy as an informant, they shared a genuine connection, and Tommy’s levity really did a solid job of offsetting the increasing strife in Virgil’s life.

I appreciated the high level of action as everything went down towards the end, and would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to read more stories with a focus on Indigenous and First Nations peoples.

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