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apersonfromflorida's review
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Grief
alipickle's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Very well written account of the tragic story
baileys_bookstagram's review
5.0
Being from Winnipeg, Manitoba the events that took place in this novel are all too familiar. I was eager to read how a non-Canadian would unfold the tragic murder of Tina Fontaine. I felt every emotion when reading Jolly’s account, but I feel that she did the investigation justice. She thoroughly researched, and interviewed providing an unbiased account of the murder and subsequent investigation into finding and charging the murderer of 15 year old Tina Fontaine. Canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women is a horrible truth that is plaguing our country and a book of this caliber does well to highlight what is gong on here in Canada to the rest of the world. It is about time that action is taken to put a stop to these crimes and to solve the ones that are haunting the families of their missing and/or murdered loved ones. I am just sorry that it took the death of Tina Fontaine to put these wheels in motion but I hope that her loss is not in vain.
vtlism's review
River cruising used to be a popular pasttime in Winnipeg... Even Princess Margaret had cruised on the river, in a time when dinnerwear meant a suit and tie for men.
Approx. quote at the point I stopped reading. I don't need a history of the Canadian riverboat in my life, nor all the other "colorful details" illustrating - bloating? - this book.
Approx. quote at the point I stopped reading. I don't need a history of the Canadian riverboat in my life, nor all the other "colorful details" illustrating - bloating? - this book.
klaw78's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
maeghin's review
4.0
‘Tina’s death had triggered nationwide anger, amplifying the calls for a government inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women.’
#AmINext?
Joanne Jolly dives deep into the story of the tragic death of 15 year old Tina Fontaine. She also sheds light on the disturbing accounts of many other Indigenous women in Canada that are being murdered.
The time and effort Sergeant John O’Donovan puts into constructing Tina’s last days is remarkable. It truly shows how much he cares.
#AmINext?
Joanne Jolly dives deep into the story of the tragic death of 15 year old Tina Fontaine. She also sheds light on the disturbing accounts of many other Indigenous women in Canada that are being murdered.
The time and effort Sergeant John O’Donovan puts into constructing Tina’s last days is remarkable. It truly shows how much he cares.
bookishlychar's review
I really struggled with this book. I’m from the prairies, so I knew Tina Fontaine’s story before reading this. I felt that this book failed to look at Tina Fontaine and her history wholely and spent a lot of time looking into the person accused of the crime. It felt like there was a focus on the police services and failed to look at the many racialized problems that continue to exist in Winnipeg. Indigenous people have struggled with treatment by both Winnipeg Police and child welfare since they have existed. This is exacerbated by a large degree of systemic and overt racism that exists in Winnipeg and Manitoba.
Many systems failed Tina Fontaine, and this book lightly touched on this. I would have rather had a look at the history of indigenous women that have been killed in Winnipeg and more what failings have occurred to lead Fontaine to be dead at 15.
The story lightly touches on the trial, and mentions that Fontaine’s alcohol and drug use were brought up in trial, but it did not challenge us to look at the reporting of that, vs the reporting of white women, or even white men who commit crimes. Fontaine’s life was lost to soon, and I hope we are able to learn from this so no more indigenous women and girls are murdered.
Many systems failed Tina Fontaine, and this book lightly touched on this. I would have rather had a look at the history of indigenous women that have been killed in Winnipeg and more what failings have occurred to lead Fontaine to be dead at 15.
The story lightly touches on the trial, and mentions that Fontaine’s alcohol and drug use were brought up in trial, but it did not challenge us to look at the reporting of that, vs the reporting of white women, or even white men who commit crimes. Fontaine’s life was lost to soon, and I hope we are able to learn from this so no more indigenous women and girls are murdered.
bookslifeandeverythingnice's review
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley, Viking, and Joanna Jolly for an ARC ebook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.
Like:
- the background and non judgmental explanation of the life circumstances that led Tina and her family to their current life situations
- The detective who was working to solve her murder.
Love:
- the book brings to light the important topic of violence against First Nations women
Dislike:
- A possible dislike for some people (not for me though) --- the descriptions of the crime and her body when discovered. This is to be expected since it's a true crime book.
- Nothing specific to dislike, but nothing was particularly amazing either.
Wish that:
- It held my attention more. The overall topic is interesting, but not phenomenal in the presentation.
- The story had lived up to its potential. It was such a complex, informative, must be discussed story, but overall it read as a little boring, especially for a true crime mystery book.
Overall, an okay book about an important but terrible event that occurred in real life. I'm so glad that Tina Fontaine's murder is being discussed in the context of violence against First Nations women. An important topic, but unfortunately this book doesn't do it justice in my opinion.
Like:
- the background and non judgmental explanation of the life circumstances that led Tina and her family to their current life situations
- The detective who was working to solve her murder.
Love:
- the book brings to light the important topic of violence against First Nations women
Dislike:
- A possible dislike for some people (not for me though) --- the descriptions of the crime and her body when discovered. This is to be expected since it's a true crime book.
- Nothing specific to dislike, but nothing was particularly amazing either.
Wish that:
- It held my attention more. The overall topic is interesting, but not phenomenal in the presentation.
- The story had lived up to its potential. It was such a complex, informative, must be discussed story, but overall it read as a little boring, especially for a true crime mystery book.
Overall, an okay book about an important but terrible event that occurred in real life. I'm so glad that Tina Fontaine's murder is being discussed in the context of violence against First Nations women. An important topic, but unfortunately this book doesn't do it justice in my opinion.