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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
A gripping and relevant story, with the pacing and suspense of The Hunger Games, in a fictional world rife with blatant institutional racism enforced by colonial oppressors. The Gutter is combination of a slum and a reservation — it’s where colonial Mainlanders sent the inhabitants of the island originally known as Sossi to live separate and apart from the Mainlander population. Our heroine Elimina is a child who was born in the the Gutter, taken from her birth mother as an infant, and placed with a white Mainlander woman as part of a Project that studies 100 Gutter children raised in Mainlander homes. Our story starts after Elimina’s white Mainlander mother dies after an illness, and Elimina is sent to a boarding school that trains Gutter children to work in Mainlander homes. Here, Elimina makes new friends — and enemies — and gradually understands that, even though she’s never lived there — she cannot escape the fact that she is a Gutter Child.
Dystopian story about a world in which Indigenous people are saddled with debt ascribed to them and their families by the Mainlanders who colonized their land, and confined forcibly in an area known as the “Gutter.” The only escape is generally if a Gutter child is sent out to an “academy” to train as an indentured servant, which enables them to work, at least in theory, towards Redemption Freedom for themselves and their family. The protagonist is a special “project” case, a Gutter child adopted into Mainland society but now forced into an academy. Straight-forwardly written and predictable, and I think would be well suited for YA readers and could prompt interesting discussions about how what is ‘dystopian’ for the rest of us is strongly grounded in actual experiences of Indigenous people. A fairly engaging read, although neither dystopian nor YA are my reading material of choice.
The nation is divided into the wealthy Mainland and the policed Gutter. Elimina was taken from her mother in the Gutter and raised in the Mainland. She didn’t get to live a privileged life because her adopted mom was always protecting her from the prejudices of the Mainland. After her mother dies, Elimina is sent to an Academy where she will be trained for a life of servitude. Elimina was raised on the Mainland so she doesn’t fit in with the other Gutter children in the Academy, which is further enforced when she gets put in a position of power in the school. Then, Elimina’s life takes an unexpected turn that leads her back to the Gutter. She must find the strength to keep going and stand up to the injustices that she faces.
This was a coming of age story set in a dystopian that has roots in history. Elimina had a youthful innocence when she arrived at the Academy. She hadn’t had much experience with people from the Gutter, even though that was where she was born. She is suddenly forced to grow up after her mom dies and she meets friends with horrific backgrounds. The story takes place over a couple of years, but Elimina has to become an adult during those years.
This story had strong themes of systematic racism and slavery. The children were purchased by employers and had to work off their debt to society to earn their freedom. However, most people didn’t ever earn that freedom no matter how hard they worked. Elimina was right between the Gutter and the Mainland since she grew up on the Mainland but was born in the Gutter. She had experience in the Mainland but she didn’t know much about the Gutter despite being born there. Elimina was in a unique position to bridge the gap between the two societies.
Many parts of this story were difficult to read. Some possible content triggers are racism, abuse, rape, death in childbirth, and suicide. Though these are difficult things to read about, they are part of the history of racism that this story was about. It’s important to read stories like this to learn how to change in the future.
This is a beautiful debut from Jael Richardson, the founder of the Festival of Literary Diversity!
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a coming of age story set in a dystopian that has roots in history. Elimina had a youthful innocence when she arrived at the Academy. She hadn’t had much experience with people from the Gutter, even though that was where she was born. She is suddenly forced to grow up after her mom dies and she meets friends with horrific backgrounds. The story takes place over a couple of years, but Elimina has to become an adult during those years.
This story had strong themes of systematic racism and slavery. The children were purchased by employers and had to work off their debt to society to earn their freedom. However, most people didn’t ever earn that freedom no matter how hard they worked. Elimina was right between the Gutter and the Mainland since she grew up on the Mainland but was born in the Gutter. She had experience in the Mainland but she didn’t know much about the Gutter despite being born there. Elimina was in a unique position to bridge the gap between the two societies.
Many parts of this story were difficult to read. Some possible content triggers are racism, abuse, rape, death in childbirth, and suicide. Though these are difficult things to read about, they are part of the history of racism that this story was about. It’s important to read stories like this to learn how to change in the future.
This is a beautiful debut from Jael Richardson, the founder of the Festival of Literary Diversity!
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
At first while reading I thought I would round "Gutter Child" up to 3.5 stars, but now that I'm done I'm going to leave it at just 3.
"Gutter Child" is about Elimina (later called Lima), a girl who lives in a world that's divided in two. There are the well-off white people who live on the Mainland and indebted black people who live mostly in the Gutter. Their debt stems from a war between these different factions - although it happened centuries ago, those in the Gutter are still (literally!) paying for it.
Elimina was part of an ill-fated project to bring babies out of the Gutter and raise them on the Mainland. When her white mother dies, she gets sent to an academy, where Gutter kids receive training and a chance at a better job.That's where the book starts, and it's divided into three parts - part one covers Elimina's time at the academy, while in part two she lives at a house for pregnant girls, and in part three she goes to the Gutter with her newborn baby.
I liked part one the most. I see that other reviewers have said there's a bit of an info dump to explain Elimina's world, but I didn't mind that. I enjoyed slowly putting the pieces together and learning about it along with her. I'm also a big fan of school-focused plots, so I liked watching her make friends (and enemies).
That said, the reason readers can learn alongside Elimina is that initially she's absolutely clueless when it comes to... pretty much everything. Her adoptive Mainland mom didn't tell her anything about Mainland/Gutter history, or perhaps more importantly her debt. And Elimina apparently was never driven to find out. She's very passive for the first two-thirds of the story, and that wore thin after a bit.
Elimina's turnaround really comes when she has her baby and decides to raise him in the Gutter. With another person to care for she seems to have an awakening about the unfairness of the debt system and begins getting involved with a resistance effort that is ultimately able to have a small effect on the lives of those in the Gutter.
Although I didn't love the last two parts of the book (more on that in a bit), I did appreciate the ending. As the third and final section began, I was worried Elimina was going to somehow become a revolutionary and fix the Gutter's problems - while technically that would be a great outcome, I just couldn't see how that would fit with her character or the narrative that had been building so far. I thought it was far more realistic to have her start dipping her toes into activism and to see the resistance bring about some nominal changes.
So what was my problem with the last two-thirds of "Gutter Child"? I just didn't love the pregnancy storyline. It's not surprising that it happened given Elimina's circumstances and it was clearly part of her realization that things in society aren't right - it's just not what I was expecting or what I really wanted to read about. So - 3 stars for this one, although I did like the book overall and found the premise interesting.
"Gutter Child" is about Elimina (later called Lima), a girl who lives in a world that's divided in two. There are the well-off white people who live on the Mainland and indebted black people who live mostly in the Gutter. Their debt stems from a war between these different factions - although it happened centuries ago, those in the Gutter are still (literally!) paying for it.
Elimina was part of an ill-fated project to bring babies out of the Gutter and raise them on the Mainland. When her white mother dies, she gets sent to an academy, where Gutter kids receive training and a chance at a better job.
I liked part one the most. I see that other reviewers have said there's a bit of an info dump to explain Elimina's world, but I didn't mind that. I enjoyed slowly putting the pieces together and learning about it along with her. I'm also a big fan of school-focused plots, so I liked watching her make friends (and enemies).
That said, the reason readers can learn alongside Elimina is that initially she's absolutely clueless when it comes to... pretty much everything. Her adoptive Mainland mom didn't tell her anything about Mainland/Gutter history, or perhaps more importantly her debt. And Elimina apparently was never driven to find out. She's very passive for the first two-thirds of the story, and that wore thin after a bit.
Although I didn't love the last two parts of the book (more on that in a bit), I did appreciate the ending. As the third and final section began, I was worried Elimina was going to somehow become a revolutionary and fix the Gutter's problems - while technically that would be a great outcome, I just couldn't see how that would fit with her character or the narrative that had been building so far. I thought it was far more realistic to have her start dipping her toes into activism and to see the resistance bring about some nominal changes.
So what was my problem with the last two-thirds of "Gutter Child"? I just didn't love the pregnancy storyline. It's not surprising that it happened given Elimina's circumstances and it was clearly part of her realization that things in society aren't right - it's just not what I was expecting or what I really wanted to read about. So - 3 stars for this one, although I did like the book overall and found the premise interesting.
Gutter Child is about a young girl named Elimina who is forced to attend an academy for Gutter children after her Mother on the Mainland died. As someone who was never raised in the Gutter but on the Mainland, Elimina learns the real parts of her life and the world around her. A world where Gutter people must buy their freedom by working off their debt - debt for simply being alive. A coming-of-age story, Elimina faces love, heartbreak, hope and despair, trying to discover who she is and what she wants in her life.
This book felt heavy, and what I mean by this is that as I was reading I felt the weight of oppression that these characters were experiencing as Gutter folks. This weight that is ever-present in their lives from the day that they are born. Much like the Handmaid’s Tale, it’s an extreme version of a world that we already have, to show what could happen if we do not recognize and dismantle the systems that exist for certain people to thrive and certain people to fail.
What I really love about this book is how it is clear that the focus is on the systems that exist in the Mainland and the Gutter. The book never mentions the word “race” or “Black” and “white” but you know when you are reading who the disenfranchised are and who the oppressors are. Not one or two racist people but a whole racist system. That from the day Gutter folks are born, they are working in a system that takes advantage of them, sees them as less than, and wants them to fail. Some of the events that take place are all too real, resembling historical forms of discrimination - people getting auctioned off for services like slaves, Gutter folks getting marked with scars, armed police officers patrolling Gutter boundaries - only to name a few.
But there were also soft parts that felt like a much needed warm hug in all the crappiness (for lack of a better word). The students at the academy sneaking out to read poetry and stories to each other, the ever-lasting friendship between Lima and Josephine, the letters between Lima and David, and the growing resistance of the Network in the Gutter. One of those novels that was hard to read, but I didn’t want to put it down. 4.5 stars for this debut novel!
This book felt heavy, and what I mean by this is that as I was reading I felt the weight of oppression that these characters were experiencing as Gutter folks. This weight that is ever-present in their lives from the day that they are born. Much like the Handmaid’s Tale, it’s an extreme version of a world that we already have, to show what could happen if we do not recognize and dismantle the systems that exist for certain people to thrive and certain people to fail.
What I really love about this book is how it is clear that the focus is on the systems that exist in the Mainland and the Gutter. The book never mentions the word “race” or “Black” and “white” but you know when you are reading who the disenfranchised are and who the oppressors are. Not one or two racist people but a whole racist system. That from the day Gutter folks are born, they are working in a system that takes advantage of them, sees them as less than, and wants them to fail. Some of the events that take place are all too real, resembling historical forms of discrimination - people getting auctioned off for services like slaves, Gutter folks getting marked with scars, armed police officers patrolling Gutter boundaries - only to name a few.
But there were also soft parts that felt like a much needed warm hug in all the crappiness (for lack of a better word). The students at the academy sneaking out to read poetry and stories to each other, the ever-lasting friendship between Lima and Josephine, the letters between Lima and David, and the growing resistance of the Network in the Gutter. One of those novels that was hard to read, but I didn’t want to put it down. 4.5 stars for this debut novel!
This book is worth all the hype, it is a compelling read. I could not put it down. I think this is a perfect book for a book club or a high school novel study because it needs to be discussed with others. My biggest struggle was I was reading it alone and had nobody to talk to about it and I desperately wanted to talk about it. It is very easy to see the parallels with our current society and situation in Canada but it could be easily related to any colonized country.
I highly recommend everyone read this book.
I highly recommend everyone read this book.
Getting to the end of this book was torture. I skimmed the last 5 chapters because honestly, I could care less about what happened to the characters. They're all two-dimensional, not much happens, and the story is simple and often too literal. The dialogue was often too on-the-nose, which really bothered me while reading. The main character was too cliche, and I felt that the author could've done so much with the premise.
When I picked up this book, the premise sounded great, and I looked forward to reading this book. However, I was really disappointed. The writing is simple and cluttered with unnecessary details that could've easily been edited out. There is a chapter near the end of the book that repeats the reason why the guests are at Elimina's house roughly 4-5 times. It's like hitting the reader with a hammer rather than spoon-feeding them. It's like the author did not trust the reader while writing the novel because everything is explained and then explained again.
I think the author did not know where to take the themes that are highlighted in this novel. It had a flat storyline that didn't really add anything new. It did t force me to think about the marginalized societies in our world or the ideas of racism. It hinted at them but kept everything on the surface. I am just glad it's over.
I was debating between 1 star or 2 stars, but I settled for 2 because the first few chapters of the book actually started off great, but then everything fell apart. This just wasn't for me.
When I picked up this book, the premise sounded great, and I looked forward to reading this book. However, I was really disappointed. The writing is simple and cluttered with unnecessary details that could've easily been edited out. There is a chapter near the end of the book that repeats the reason why the guests are at Elimina's house roughly 4-5 times. It's like hitting the reader with a hammer rather than spoon-feeding them. It's like the author did not trust the reader while writing the novel because everything is explained and then explained again.
I think the author did not know where to take the themes that are highlighted in this novel. It had a flat storyline that didn't really add anything new. It did t force me to think about the marginalized societies in our world or the ideas of racism. It hinted at them but kept everything on the surface. I am just glad it's over.
I was debating between 1 star or 2 stars, but I settled for 2 because the first few chapters of the book actually started off great, but then everything fell apart. This just wasn't for me.
This book is literally 2% what I expected reading the cover. I pictured a dystopian setting, nothing realistic. That’s not what this book is. It felt so real and heartbreakingly possible and at the same time historical. It is so relevant to what is going in the world, and I’d be shocked and honestly disappointed if it doesn’t end up in the school curriculum.
As I realized I had 2 pages left, I was shocked. The story wasn’t over, and there was no way the ending could be tidied up in 2 pages. Of course I would have liked more closure and a nice happy ending, but it would have done the book a disservice.
“A system can’t be broken in a moment”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I think it lost .5 for me only because it was not what I expected to be reading and I selfishly wish I had a few more answers at the end.... or maybe even a sequel (although I think it’s more powerful as a stand-alone)
As I realized I had 2 pages left, I was shocked. The story wasn’t over, and there was no way the ending could be tidied up in 2 pages. Of course I would have liked more closure and a nice happy ending, but it would have done the book a disservice.
“A system can’t be broken in a moment”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I think it lost .5 for me only because it was not what I expected to be reading and I selfishly wish I had a few more answers at the end.... or maybe even a sequel (although I think it’s more powerful as a stand-alone)
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book was... not great. i understand what the author was trying to do, to illustrate racial disparities between "mainlanders" and "gutter" but it was just so over simplified. the story also operated on a premise of providing information only when it was convenient to the loose plot (of which there wasn't a whole lot). the characters came and went at times that were all too convenient, and none of them were likeable or really memorable in any way. everything just tied together too nicely. except for the ending, which was very abrupt and didn't provide even a hint of resolution.
this book is marketed as adult, but read more like a young adult novel. maybe i've just read too many better books doing the same work.
thanks to harper collins canada for an advanced readers copy!
this book is marketed as adult, but read more like a young adult novel. maybe i've just read too many better books doing the same work.
thanks to harper collins canada for an advanced readers copy!