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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
beautiful prose but listening to the audiobook was difficult at times because it wasn’t broken up by story. maybe this should be listened to straight through?
These stories are raw and honest. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant, brutal, heart-breaking, and enlightening. I highly recommend this collection, especially to white readers who might gain greater understanding of the true cost of colonization and how its effects echo down the years.
My Booktube
This is a weird collection to explain, but in short I liked it but it is def not for everyone and it takes awhile to get used to the narrative style.
tw: there is a story focused on suicide. mentions of rape and residential schools as well.
this is like a 3.5/3.75 for me so I’m rounding up. I didn’t “like” this in the usual sense. It’s a case of you can tell it’s great writing and I enjoyed most of the stories. My favorite was probably the one focused on suicide, story 9 I think. I would quote it but I listened via audiobook so lol
This is a weird collection to explain, but in short I liked it but it is def not for everyone and it takes awhile to get used to the narrative style.
tw: there is a story focused on suicide. mentions of rape and residential schools as well.
this is like a 3.5/3.75 for me so I’m rounding up. I didn’t “like” this in the usual sense. It’s a case of you can tell it’s great writing and I enjoyed most of the stories. My favorite was probably the one focused on suicide, story 9 I think. I would quote it but I listened via audiobook so lol
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Drawing from her own life and other contemporary Indigenous perspectives, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson creates a truly moving and thought-provoking series of short stories in [b:Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs|18267582|Islands of Decolonial Love Stories & Songs|Leanne Betasamosake Simpson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386282869l/18267582._SY75_.jpg|25728391].
Each story (or song) is short, yet vividly captures a great deal of emotion and individual personality that feels deeply intimate. Like an archipelago of islands, characters seem lonely yet interconnected, in this case through shared culture and expectation. While largely stemming from the Nishnaabeg nation (one of Canada’s First Nations; surrounding the North American Great Lakes), many of these stories still felt familiar to the experiences of anyone with indigenous (or even mestizo) heritage—so goes the universality of historic trauma and systemic injustice.
Also present throughout this collection are themes surrounding healing. At times this entails dark humor, at others unwavering acceptance of the uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s gentle in tone and at others a guttural scream into the void. Some characters feel trapped, while others are in a constant state of motion. Still, all seem to be moving towards a type of fundamental understanding, something I found to be a truly cathartic experience.
All in all, I definitely recommend this book, and will be on the lookout for more of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s work. I think that if you want to be understood, you must first learn to understand others, and this collection is a remarkable work of empathy.
Each story (or song) is short, yet vividly captures a great deal of emotion and individual personality that feels deeply intimate. Like an archipelago of islands, characters seem lonely yet interconnected, in this case through shared culture and expectation. While largely stemming from the Nishnaabeg nation (one of Canada’s First Nations; surrounding the North American Great Lakes), many of these stories still felt familiar to the experiences of anyone with indigenous (or even mestizo) heritage—so goes the universality of historic trauma and systemic injustice.
Also present throughout this collection are themes surrounding healing. At times this entails dark humor, at others unwavering acceptance of the uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s gentle in tone and at others a guttural scream into the void. Some characters feel trapped, while others are in a constant state of motion. Still, all seem to be moving towards a type of fundamental understanding, something I found to be a truly cathartic experience.
All in all, I definitely recommend this book, and will be on the lookout for more of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s work. I think that if you want to be understood, you must first learn to understand others, and this collection is a remarkable work of empathy.
emotional
funny
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
Absolutely beautiful
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Colonisation
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Alcohol