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mika3's review against another edition
5.0
god this book broke my heart in the most beautiful way. I love this story so so so so so much. I love the characters I love it all. I don't even know what to say. women supporting eachother? familial love? got me crying on the tube!!!
joaniffer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
timgrubbs's review
4.0
A modern indigenous parable about coming of age, dealing with motherhood, and holding onto your past
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott is part novel, part storytelling device…
Alice is a young woman with a weeks old baby, a peculiar husband, and a lot of baggage.
She navigates the modern horrors of cultural appropriation, historical genocide (and modern homicide and “disappeared” native women), personal detachment from one’s heritage, and disrespect due to her ancestry.
If all that wasn’t enough of a problem…she also starts to have visions about something she needs to do…but are they just hallucinations or are they actually communications with her ancestors and nature spirits trying to help her find her path…
As Alice tries to decide what to do…the story is interspersed modern myth making…a story of Mature Flowers that mimics Alice’s own journey…as she works to reconnect with her heritage and try to preserve some measure of her culture and stories despite all elements of society trying to tear it down..
Merged review:
A modern indigenous parable about coming of age, dealing with motherhood, and holding onto your past
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott is part novel, part storytelling device…
Alice is a young woman with a weeks old baby, a peculiar husband, and a lot of baggage.
She navigates the modern horrors of cultural appropriation, historical genocide (and modern homicide and “disappeared” native women), personal detachment from one’s heritage, and disrespect due to her ancestry.
If all that wasn’t enough of a problem…she also starts to have visions about something she needs to do…but are they just hallucinations or are they actually communications with her ancestors and nature spirits trying to help her find her path…
As Alice tries to decide what to do…the story is interspersed modern myth making…a story of Mature Flowers that mimics Alice’s own journey…as she works to reconnect with her heritage and try to preserve some measure of her culture and stories despite all elements of society trying to tear it down..
Merged review:
A modern indigenous parable about coming of age, dealing with motherhood, and holding onto your past
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott is part novel, part storytelling device…
Alice is a young woman with a weeks old baby, a peculiar husband, and a lot of baggage.
She navigates the modern horrors of cultural appropriation, historical genocide (and modern homicide and “disappeared” native women), personal detachment from one’s heritage, and disrespect due to her ancestry.
If all that wasn’t enough of a problem…she also starts to have visions about something she needs to do…but are they just hallucinations or are they actually communications with her ancestors and nature spirits trying to help her find her path…
As Alice tries to decide what to do…the story is interspersed modern myth making…a story of Mature Flowers that mimics Alice’s own journey…as she works to reconnect with her heritage and try to preserve some measure of her culture and stories despite all elements of society trying to tear it down..
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott is part novel, part storytelling device…
Alice is a young woman with a weeks old baby, a peculiar husband, and a lot of baggage.
She navigates the modern horrors of cultural appropriation, historical genocide (and modern homicide and “disappeared” native women), personal detachment from one’s heritage, and disrespect due to her ancestry.
If all that wasn’t enough of a problem…she also starts to have visions about something she needs to do…but are they just hallucinations or are they actually communications with her ancestors and nature spirits trying to help her find her path…
As Alice tries to decide what to do…the story is interspersed modern myth making…a story of Mature Flowers that mimics Alice’s own journey…as she works to reconnect with her heritage and try to preserve some measure of her culture and stories despite all elements of society trying to tear it down..
Merged review:
A modern indigenous parable about coming of age, dealing with motherhood, and holding onto your past
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott is part novel, part storytelling device…
Alice is a young woman with a weeks old baby, a peculiar husband, and a lot of baggage.
She navigates the modern horrors of cultural appropriation, historical genocide (and modern homicide and “disappeared” native women), personal detachment from one’s heritage, and disrespect due to her ancestry.
If all that wasn’t enough of a problem…she also starts to have visions about something she needs to do…but are they just hallucinations or are they actually communications with her ancestors and nature spirits trying to help her find her path…
As Alice tries to decide what to do…the story is interspersed modern myth making…a story of Mature Flowers that mimics Alice’s own journey…as she works to reconnect with her heritage and try to preserve some measure of her culture and stories despite all elements of society trying to tear it down..
Merged review:
A modern indigenous parable about coming of age, dealing with motherhood, and holding onto your past
And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott is part novel, part storytelling device…
Alice is a young woman with a weeks old baby, a peculiar husband, and a lot of baggage.
She navigates the modern horrors of cultural appropriation, historical genocide (and modern homicide and “disappeared” native women), personal detachment from one’s heritage, and disrespect due to her ancestry.
If all that wasn’t enough of a problem…she also starts to have visions about something she needs to do…but are they just hallucinations or are they actually communications with her ancestors and nature spirits trying to help her find her path…
As Alice tries to decide what to do…the story is interspersed modern myth making…a story of Mature Flowers that mimics Alice’s own journey…as she works to reconnect with her heritage and try to preserve some measure of her culture and stories despite all elements of society trying to tear it down..
jessicas_bookshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
derigibleplums's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
I chose so right with the first book I started on the women's prize longlist. This is magical realism at the perfect level for me, the boundaries between what is imagined and real are blurry, enough to question and believe at the same time. The way it sheds a light on mental health from the inside perspective was invocative of Ozeki's The Book of Form & Emptiness and lent a real empathy to the realities people are living with and why they can be so resistant to help.
The nuances around parenthood, racism, justice, poverty, drug addiction and loneliness were all wonderfully handled, especially in relation to Indigenous culture. Specifically, the sections around her partners' involvement in Indigenous culture and her feelings around it will stick with me for a while on how difficult allyship truly is.
Big fan of this book, I'm amazed it didn't make the shortlist
The nuances around parenthood, racism, justice, poverty, drug addiction and loneliness were all wonderfully handled, especially in relation to Indigenous culture. Specifically, the sections around her partners' involvement in Indigenous culture and her feelings around it will stick with me for a while on how difficult allyship truly is.
Big fan of this book, I'm amazed it didn't make the shortlist
loriluo's review
3.0
At first glance, Alice looks like she has the ideal life; as a Mohawk woman married to a white man name Steve (who is coincidentally studying her culture and language), she's just given birth to her daughter Dawn and moved into a wealthy Toronto suburb to raise her family. But Alice's struggles are numerous: she's having trouble juggling the newfound responsibilities of motherhood on her own (mostly due to her husband's insistence); she harbors an inexplicable resentment against her husband for how seamlessly and effortlessly he seems to take on aspects of her culture; and she struggles to write her take on the Haudenosaunee creation story that her late father recounted to her.
The first half of this novel was the most engrossing for me as we really get to understand Alice's character and situation, including a number of flashbacks to her childhood that cover her encounters with her peers on the "Rez" and what happened to Alice's mother and father -events that shape who she is in the present. Her situation as a female minority was one I connected to as well, despite not being Native American, and I shared in her frustrations with feeling unheard and frequently talked over. I struggled with the second half of the novel however, which read like a fever dream in many instances. I'm sure there's a lot of complex symbolism and interpretations that I was unable to comprehend, but I struggled with separating what was real with what was... not.
There's a lot of heavy subject matter packed into this novel including substance abuse, mental illness, sexism, racism, and the thin border between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Worth a read for those who are curious, but be prepared for a wild ride!
Thank you Dutton Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!
The first half of this novel was the most engrossing for me as we really get to understand Alice's character and situation, including a number of flashbacks to her childhood that cover her encounters with her peers on the "Rez" and what happened to Alice's mother and father -events that shape who she is in the present. Her situation as a female minority was one I connected to as well, despite not being Native American, and I shared in her frustrations with feeling unheard and frequently talked over. I struggled with the second half of the novel however, which read like a fever dream in many instances. I'm sure there's a lot of complex symbolism and interpretations that I was unable to comprehend, but I struggled with separating what was real with what was... not.
There's a lot of heavy subject matter packed into this novel including substance abuse, mental illness, sexism, racism, and the thin border between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Worth a read for those who are curious, but be prepared for a wild ride!
Thank you Dutton Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!
novellyness's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.75
isabellediggle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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
4.5
Blimey, that was intense. I had no idea going into this book of what to expect and it certainly wasn't sentient Pocahontas or psychological horror . Elliot made me feel so violently anxious at times, but lovingly swaddled at others. The narrative change at around 85% of the way through was unexpected and I'm unsure what I think of the choice to halt the crescendo of the dinner party events. The genocide and cultural theft facing the indigenous people of Canada was well presented throughout and I hope to read more of Elliott's work in the future. Definitely one for the WP Shortlist!