Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline

17 reviews

schausjk's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

3.75

I started this book immediately after finishing the first, but I almost wish I'd waited longer between books. I kept finding continuity errors that I probably otherwise wouldn't've if it had more time for the story to rest in my brain and for me to forget small details. After all the revelations about Minerva and the power she carried, I really would have thought there would have been more acknowledgement of what she did. The author shared in the afterword that there wasn't originally going to be a sequel to The Marrow Thieves, and it really shows. If this had been originally set up to be a book with sequels, some of the things that exist in the second book could've been more deftly woven into the worldbuilding. 

The Frenchie plot was an interesting and emotional take on the deep horror of residential schools. Aside from that, most of the emotional beats didn't quite hit as deeply as they did in the first one. That being said, I still appreciated being able to see more of the characters.

My rating honestly would've been lower, but I've seen several low reviews out there specifically complaining about the book's so-called "forced diversity" (ugh.) by not making white people the focus in a specifically indigenous book (which... what??) and through the inclusion of a gay couple and a two-spirit character, so I'm rating it a bit higher out of spite for those other reviewers.

TLDR: Not a bad book, but not nearly as well put together as the first one was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, and Cannibalism

Minor: Child death and Drug use

tales_told_in_gold's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Gun violence

Minor: Cannibalism and Pandemic/Epidemic

nerdsbianhokie's review against another edition

dark tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, and Racism

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Racism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Genocide, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Blood, Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Trafficking, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Infertility, Ableism, and Cannibalism

Minor: Terminal illness, Transphobia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide, Abandonment, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Alcohol, Drug use, Slavery, and Vomit

Residential schools.

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

Heartbreaking and healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Violence, Blood, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Cannibalism, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Medical content, Grief, and Trafficking

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Blood, Pregnancy, Torture, Confinement, Violence, Medical content, and Racism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, and Cursing

Minor: Sexual content, Deportation, and Child death

Incarceration

augustar14's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

If possible,  maybe even better than the first book.  But honestly, both need read together,  in order,  carefully.  This book is incredibly well written, adds new layers and levels to the lives of every character from the first book,  and brings new characters with different experiences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Confinement, Colonisation, Torture, Genocide, Cursing, Cannibalism, Violence, Grief, Classism, Abandonment, Blood, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Gun violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse and Child death

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

alexalily's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Child abuse, Confinement, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Medical content, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Racism, Infertility, Child death, Sexual assault, and Animal death

the_wistful_word_witch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

The Marrow Thieves / Hunting by Stars series is a wonderfully written, scarily realistic, dystopian, young adult, speculative fiction series and I both love and hate it. 😂

**POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW*

Welp! Looks like I spoke too soon in my review of The Marrow Thieves!! Hunting by Stars starts out with a kick right in the teeth. I felt like the first book had left off unresolved but hopeful, and the second has just shattered that illusion in the first few sentences.

This book gives us an intimate, brutal look at what really goes on in Canada's new residential schools, and the depths to which the dreamless have sunk comes out as French fights to stay sane in this cruel new world so that he can escape and reunite with his family. But his torment isn't over even when he manages to accomplish these almost insurmountable feats, and his family gets dragged down with him on their own flight for freedom... 

There are very few bright spots in this book, and I cried a lot, especially during the last few chapters. The epilogue had me bawling though because Ms. Dimaline once again leaves us with hope, with potential... with dreams.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Genocide, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Violence, Hate crime, Confinement, Blood, Medical trauma, Death, Slavery, Racism, Pregnancy, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Minor: Child death

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Confinement, Pregnancy, Grief, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Child death