Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

27 reviews

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The story of Ruthie and Joe is so sad and so necessary. I loved the writing and the complex characters. It would be easy to be set against the kidnapping family, but even with those characters, there was complexity throughout the book. 
Ruthie's journey is hard to read, mostly because of the gaslighting that she endures. I think many things did happen to her and she didn't get to have much agency, but that felt like a big part of the point of the story in this case. 
Joe was a potentially unlikeable character who did grow for me and his story is truly heartbreaking. His emotional journey was difficult to connect to at times but there were certain moments that were so heartfelt and real for me that I couldn't help but want to just wrap him up in a blanket.
I'd love to read more of Peters' books! I simply loved her writing, at times I was so wrapped up in it that I did forget everything that was going on around me. That's a great book for me! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

megmu18's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Abandonment

Moderate: Miscarriage

teacupsandfirereads's review

emotional hopeful 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

4.5

In a year of mediocre reads, this one really stands out. Though there was no real mystery, I loved seeing the character's lives over time. The writing was strong at the same time as being accessible. The characters were varied and complex. The story held a lot of emotions. It was full of heartbreak as well as hope. I do wish more space had been given to the ending and rebuilding the bonds.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

sammyanntha's review

emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, and Abandonment

moraina's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

How much heartbreak can one family take? Beginning in the 1960s and spanning to more recent years, The Berry Pickers details tragedies such as child abduction and the death of a child. The trauma of these events deeply affects one of two main characters, Joe, and it impacts the entire trajectory of his life. In his old age, we learn about the many mistakes he made in his anger at the world. Alternately, we get the perspective of his sister growing up in an alienating home that is not truly her own.

While the events of this story are sad, the author develops the characters in a way that you feel hopeful for each of them and includes some positive turns of events. I found The Berry Pickers to be instantly engaging and well-written, it ended up being one of my favorite reads for this year so far.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment

caseythereader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Fatphobia

liesthemoontells's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.0

**I originally gave this 3 stars, but after discussing with my book club and realising the weaknesses in pacing, structure, character development and language in this book, I revise my rating to 2 stars**

Saying that you wish a book had been a different book/that a story had been told differently feels like a cop-out in a review. An author chooses the story they want to tell, and that is the story the reader receives. Amanda Peters wanted to tell the story of two siblings who were torn apart by an awful act, and how the trauma of that act was mirrored throughout their lives into adulthood and middle age. 

The problems with this are that a) the drama of the book lags in the middle as the two characters move away from their traumatic childhood, before the reckoning of mortality brings them back to it in middle age, and b) the story of Joe is ultimately not as strong or believable as that of Norma's. I think this would have been a better book had it concentrated only on Ruthie's disappearance, or

the revelation of Norma's kidnapping and reunion with her family.

Similarly, I think a multiplicity of viewpoints, such as the other siblings, or the parents, or the Ellises who owned the berry farm, would have made the story stronger.

The highlight of this book for me was the way Peters wrote the complicated, twisted, guilt-ridden love between Norma and her mother. It was painful, heartwrenching, and rang utterly true.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Genocide

bebidocrimes's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

teddie_valetine98's review against another edition

emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

kappafrog's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

3.75

This is a hard book to review. I was compelled to keep reading because I felt completely drawn in to the tragedies and traumas that the characters were facing, and needed to see how it all resolved. I was moved to tears at times, especially at the end. At the same time, the characters went through so much trauma that I almost felt voyeuristic at times. I kept going because I knew from the first chapter there was hope, but it was pretty brutal seeing everything that especially Joe's family went through.

This story is a heartbreaking look at the effect the Sixties Scoop had on Indigenous people in Canada. While this wasn't exactly like the typical Sixties Scoop - where the taking of children was sanctioned by child welfare services - it explored how much that sort of forced interracial adoption fractured family and individual identities. It's estimated that 20,000 Indigenous children were forcibly relocated during the Scoop, so the emotions that Ruthie and her family went through in this book are far from unique.

At times I wondered why we were spending so much time with Joe. His story was interesting to read, but I finished the book with so many unanswered questions about the fallout with Norma

/Ruthie

and her family that I wish we could have spent some more time with her perspective at the end. What we did get with her at that point was great though and very healing.

That scene towards the end where all the siblings are laughing together was so special.

The book could have dug a little deeper on a few of its themes.

Aunt June didn't exactly get off easy, as Norma did articulate to her what I'd been thinking the whole time, but the book could have explored a little more her position as a white queer person - on the one hand oppressed, and on the other hand, an enabler of another's oppression. She did so much damage by keeping that secret - poor Norma got so twisted up by all the gaslighting, and no one was ever fully held accountable for it, though the novel was still clear about how awful it was and the negative effects it had. I would have liked to see some more anger expressed towards Norma's mother, and to have seen more of her original family's reactions to learning why Ruthie had been taken from them.

The above are all just things I wish we could have seen more of. I do have one criticism of the book aside from that though. I really didn't like how Norma's mother Lenore played into stereotypes about manipulative people with migraines. Her migraines were her key emotional manipulation tactic, and I really didn't appreciate that. While it's something that could certainly happen, one of the reasons that migraine isn't taken seriously as the massively debilitating disease it is is that people see it as something women fake to get out of things they don't want to do. There's plenty of research showing that. So, as someone whose life has been badly affected by chronic migraine (and OCD, which Norma's mother was also possibly implied to have), I didn't love that the author used this trope. It wasn't a dealbreaker, since it was technically plausible (migraine can be triggered by emotional upset), and the main characters in the novel were suffering from so many worse societal ills, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book. It is a heavy read, but it really shines in moments like the descriptions of the landscape and people's connections to it and Joe's memories of his sister. It provided insights into a way of life unknown to most people (including me) by exploring the social and economic realities of life for itinerant Indigenous berry pickers in Canada and Maine. While there were things I would have liked to see it explore more, it was a fantastic debut, and I look forward to seeing more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Cursing, Genocide, Homophobia, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Vomit