Reviews with content warning for Racism - This Place: 150 Years Retold

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

This Place: 150 Years Retold by David A. Robertson, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Jen Storm, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Chelsea Vowel, Brandon Mitchell, Richard Van Camp, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Katherena Vermette, Sonny Assu

35 reviews

yourstrulytay's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-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

5.0

The illustrations are beautiful, and the authors and illustrators are as diverse as the stories they tell. These are the stories that have been hidden from us in history class. I loved this.

Content Warnings

”Indigenous writers have pointed out that, as Indigenous people, we all live in a post-apocalyptic world. The world as we knew it ended the moment colonialism started to creep across these lands. But we have continued to tell our stories; we have continued to adapt. Despite everything, we have survived.”

Maybe I haven’t fully read enough graphic novels, but I haven’t come across any graphic novel anthologies before this one. And what a wonderful idea! Especially in this case because as has been said (I think in the foreword), graphic novels are a very accessible and easy way to learn about things that may be less so in a thick nonfiction book written in difficult academic text (and they're more straightforward than fiction).

This anthology contains eleven graphic novel shorts, each with a summary and timeline of events talking a bit about the events in the graphic novel or what inspired it. All of the stories are about Indigenous peoples living in what’s known as Canada.

As with all anthologies, some stories are hit and miss. In this case, it’s the art styles. Some of them aren’t my thing, but none of them are objectively awful. All of the stories, however, are engaging and serve more as springboards into further research than they do a thorough explanation or overview of things. Which is a great thing, actually! I have more notes saved to look things into from this anthology than from many nonfiction books. By covering lots of ground, this anthology is able to get people interested and outraged by what has happened to many of these different Indigenous peoples.

I really hope this is something that will be done more often, because I think it’s very effective.

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valeria_balzan's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

As it's common with anthologies of short stories, some are better than others, but overall all take on different moments in history where Indigenous people and communities were wronged.
The art style of all the stories is simply amazing and it shows that there has been a lot of love and effort put into this book.

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poemsandponds's review

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

This book covered a lot of different issues First Nations peoples have faced since the colonization of the land that is now Canada. I enjoyed the anthology aspect in the sense that it highlighted lots of Indigenous authors and illustrators. However I felt that some of the stories were too short for me to fully “get” them or feel their impact.

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battybookworm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

This was mainly an informative text about Indigenous history in Canada. It's beautifully illustrated and each other tells a compelling part of their history. Some specific ones that stood out to me were Rosie and the fight and speech against The Mackenzie Pipeline. Much of the book feels like a jumping off point, and I now have a list of other pieces to check out or historical events/figures to look into.

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jazhandz's review

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hopeful medium-paced

4.0

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therainbowshelf's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

An incredible collection of indigenous Canadians' histories. Each comic starts with an author blurb and a timeline of events present in or influencing the story. Canada's history of abusing indigenous people is sickeningly similar to how things have gone for the native people of the US. Whether you're familiar with indigenous history of Canada or want to start somewhere, this is an excellent read.

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piperlee's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

this collection brilliantly mixed timelines, statements from authors, and colorful comics to tell the stories of Indigenous peoples over the past 150 years. Each comic was just a glimpse into the time period/narrative the authors were sharing, but simultaneously brought clarity to the bigger picture of collective struggle and perseverance in the face of colonialism and state violence. This felt very accessible & will be one that sticks in my mind for a long time.

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