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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I finished this ages ago but I felt like I had so much to say about it that I wanted to sit on it for a little bit before I wrote a review. Then, of course, over a month passed, and I've lent out my copy, and now I'm still not sure what to say about this book, because it was just so excellent and so of-the-moment and so powerful. I know that books have a massively long gestational period, but this book felt like it was birthed of just the last year, in that the issues it confronted and the timeliness of its rise were almost too perfect.
When I picked up the book, I was expecting something totally different. It is almost science fiction, of another world, and yet the world had none of the futuristic or science-y feel that is often associated with science fiction. Instead, it was this almost perfect version of our society, but rendered in such a way that the truth of the injustice and unbalance and unfairness of it all was literally impossible to ignore. The colour of Elimina's skin was hardly even mentioned, but the race divide between the Mainlanders and the Gutter was so clear. It did not even need to be said that Elimina and her people were Black or racialized and the Mainlanders were white. Mainlanders, who came in and colonized a native population, relegated them to a tiny sliver of land, forced them to pay for infinity for even daring to stand up for themselves, and all the while proclaiming the indisputable "truth" that if you work hard and follow the rules, you can be free. You can see, I'm sure, why I felt like I had so much to say about this book, while not being able to even really put words to it. This book seemed, to me, the most perfect demonstration of the realities and legacies of colonialism -- the society-wide institutional racism, residential schools and all that they represent....
This book was truly excellent and I cannot recommend it enough. This should be required reading for all.
I'll leave you with these incredible words from Ida, the hairdresser from Livingstone Academy who helps Elimina understand the history of the Sossi people:
"But when you've lived something no one else has, you have to tell folks what it's like as though they can't see and they're asking you what red looks like. When someone asks you for a picture, you got to spell it out in colour for them."
This, in my opinion, is exactly what author Jael Richardson accomplished through her brilliant novel.
When I picked up the book, I was expecting something totally different. It is almost science fiction, of another world, and yet the world had none of the futuristic or science-y feel that is often associated with science fiction. Instead, it was this almost perfect version of our society, but rendered in such a way that the truth of the injustice and unbalance and unfairness of it all was literally impossible to ignore. The colour of Elimina's skin was hardly even mentioned, but the race divide between the Mainlanders and the Gutter was so clear. It did not even need to be said that Elimina and her people were Black or racialized and the Mainlanders were white. Mainlanders, who came in and colonized a native population, relegated them to a tiny sliver of land, forced them to pay for infinity for even daring to stand up for themselves, and all the while proclaiming the indisputable "truth" that if you work hard and follow the rules, you can be free. You can see, I'm sure, why I felt like I had so much to say about this book, while not being able to even really put words to it. This book seemed, to me, the most perfect demonstration of the realities and legacies of colonialism -- the society-wide institutional racism, residential schools and all that they represent....
This book was truly excellent and I cannot recommend it enough. This should be required reading for all.
I'll leave you with these incredible words from Ida, the hairdresser from Livingstone Academy who helps Elimina understand the history of the Sossi people:
"But when you've lived something no one else has, you have to tell folks what it's like as though they can't see and they're asking you what red looks like. When someone asks you for a picture, you got to spell it out in colour for them."
This, in my opinion, is exactly what author Jael Richardson accomplished through her brilliant novel.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was great! It’s been a while since I read a YA novel, so it was refreshing the way this just read itself. It was a good story and it was about something. Occasionally the quick pace and the progression of the story was a bit too convenient to be completely believable, but to dwell on that would be to miss the point, I think.
This book came free from audible. It's not a book I would have chosen. Not a fan. It's a haves versus the have-nots kinda story only more dire where the delineation is government mandated. It's about climbing out of your status only in some cases to realize you want to go back to the have-not (gutter) ways. The story was a lot of nothing happening or talking about something happening and then repeat. Maybe it was the audible narrator but this book did not do it for me. I suffered through it despite wanting to give it a pitch to the not-reading pile early on. Only gave it a two star cause I finished it.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I listened to this fantastic novel as an audiobook. Gutter Child explores racism, micro-aggressions, and capitalism in an alternate reality that is both very different and very similar to our own. This book should be required reading in high school English courses! Jael Richardson's writing helped bring this world to life in such a vivid way. I would LOVE to see this as a Netflix series.
9/10 would recommend
9/10 would recommend
I really enjoyed the book! Picked it for book club and even though I didn’t finish it, I thought it was very thought provoking. It was a tough read since it mirrors society today. Would recommend this book for a great discussion !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy
I really wanted to like this book, but I actually can't recommend it. For me, there's nothing new or special about it, no reason to choose it. I've heard people suggest it as a YA work but I often like YA yet can't get enthusiastic about this. The setting/world wasn't developed enough for it to be the focus of the story, but neither were the characters driving it - they didn't develop at all. So it felt slightly preachy without captivating me at any point.
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don't read a lot of political centric dystopian fiction, but I did find this story to be interesting and well fleshed out. I thought that the injustices that were felt by our main character, Ellomina, throughout the book were really poignant and her thoughts and feelings about them were well carried forward. There was a lot of this book that I really didn't find interesting or intriguing, that could have been because it is a Young adult book and those are usually written about teenagers, which I occasionally find their thought processes less intelligent than I'd like them to be. I wished they had explored the main character being placed back into the gutter in a different way, I did not like pregnant teen mom trope. That always bothers me. It feels like lazy writing. It also felt like this book didn't have an ending and I also do not like that as a writing style.