Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Yield by Tara June Winch

11 reviews

colormecaro's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

4.75

At first (and the only reason this isn’t 5 stars), it took me a bit to get in a reading flow because of the changing viewpoints the book is told from (a dictionary, an old letter and the main character) but at some point I just started devouring this book. 

As someone who is interested in language and the effects it has on how people think and see the world, I loved this book. As a speaker of different languages (although the languages I speak are nowhere near as complex and full of meaning as many an indigenous language), I appreciated the way in which this book  illustrates how words can’t simply be translated. They hold a whole other dimension which is shown in the dictionary  chapters of the book. By losing indigenous languages we lose all the knowledge they hold. 

Apart from the language aspects, learning more about a culture that has seen the cruelest hardships feels very important. When I was 4 years old, I became fascinated with Australia (mostly its animal world) and as a 6 year old read the stories of the Dreaming (aboriginal origin stories). I was probably too young to reckon with the dark past of Australia, but this feels like a full circle moment. It all ties into my current interests and feelings about the world. I am on a mission to read more indigenous literature from around the world and this was a prime example of my why.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Genocide, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Police brutality, and Sexual content

Minor: Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Death of parent

libscote's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This book was slow-paced, but worth the read. It weaves together three different stories about one place in Australia. Two are Indigenous people, and one is a missionary who thinks he is there to do good. The three different stories give you a look at Indigenous life in Australia, which has the most endangered Indigenous languages in the world. When you read about what happened, you might think, "that's awful, but it happened over there." I can promise you that just as bad things happened to Indigenous and Black people in America.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Rape, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, and Racism

babblingbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Murder, Violence, Grief, Racism, Colonisation, Child abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Child death, and Death

spinesinaline's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? Yes

5.0

The three narratives that the blurb alludes to are brilliantly used here: the MC August, who has returned home to her family for her grandfather’s funeral after leaving due to a tragic loss; her grandfather Poppy, creating his own dictionary to keep his native language alive and sharing stories through each of the definitions; and an immigrant pastor from the 1900s, whose perspective adds to our understanding of the treatment of Indigenous peoples in Australia throughout history and the land claims this family are currently fighting.

It’s a book about grief in more ways than one: more recent and past losses of family members, the horrific treatment of their ancestors and through that treatment, the loss of lives, culture, language, and land. Winch does not shy away from details so there are some very brutal descriptions in here, so do take note of the content warnings. I wasn’t surprised to learn this history but horrified all the same.

As someone who works in the archives and museum field, I also really appreciated seeing these institutions called out in terms of how they handle Indigenous objects and requests for repatriation to this day. Getting to experience the unfeeling policies from those whose objects are held, without consent in many cases, by museums and archives is a welcome perspective that more professionals should be exposed to in reconsidering these policies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Colonisation, Murder, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, and Pedophilia

madetofly's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Colonisation, Genocide, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Drug use, Child death, and Racism

Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction

angesquires's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Addiction

skudiklier's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

This book was very very good. It took me a while to get into it at first, but that was more to do with how I was reading it than the book itself. I love how this story is told, and feel like it's really valuable for anyone to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Death, Racism, Sexual content, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Slavery, Eating disorder, and Genocide

Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Rape, Blood, Murder, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Child death, Alcoholism, and Cancer

Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Ableism, Vomit, and War

chazaiya's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

a 3-3.5 star first half and a 4.5-5 star second half. love its use of narrative perspective, love poppy, took a bit to warm up to august but once i reached that halfway point i was just as invested in her story as any other.

even managed to make white man greenleaf likable considering what he did.

winch was on fire in the final stages of the book, it's like you could see everything crumbling, like you could feel her rage on the paper. brilliant novel. deserves a re-read, maybe i'll like the first half more on 2nd read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Kidnapping, and Child death

Minor: Cancer and Alcoholism

avadore's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective 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? No

5.0

I struggled a bit with the pacing to begin with, it is admittedly a slow start, but please stick with it until the funeral where August really starts to wake up to what is happening not just with herself but with her family. You just have to make it through the weight of August's malaise to get there. I raced through the other sections of the book to get to Albert Gondiwindi's part-dictionary part-memoir sections, which were sad and delightful and beautiful all the way through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Child abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Genocide, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

This book does not shy away from the experiences faced by Aboriginal people on missions in Australia during the late 19th and through the 20th century, including rape of women, violence, forced work, and the removal of children. The author is not overly graphic in her descriptions but she does not shy away from the realities faced by Aboriginal people who lived through the start, establishment, and continuation of the colony.

demo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Child abuse

Minor: Alcoholism