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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
I read this book alongside my sister, so we took our time reading through it, reading only four chapters a day. This was often frustrating, because this book is so well-written, I could have sat down to read it all in one day. I'm thankful for the thoughtful pace we set though, because it gave my sister and me a chance to sit with everything we read and discuss the many real world parallels. It gave us an opportunity to really talk out the whole story and how it made us feel - our anger at such an openly unjust system, our sadness for the characters who were failed, our immense hope for Elimina's life. We also believe that this is such an important book to be taught in high school, so I hope some teachers take note and add it into their curriculum. There's a lot to discuss and think through with this book. I'll be waiting (im)patiently for a sequel so I can continue to root Elimina on.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I am confident this will be one of my favourite books of the entire year. The way that colonialization and institutional racism is portrayed in this fictional world connected with me so strongly that I was left breathless. Elimina is the perfect protagonist; both ignorant and up for the challenge. Jael Richardson has mastered writing; every plot point was so intentional and so precisely placed that it was impossible not to put my entire trust in her, and the characters are complex and honest and unique. I couldn't put the book down, and, when I was forced to, I thought about it all the time. I cannot recommend Gutter Child enough.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
This book will take you on a journey to a dystopian world built on slavery and injustice. A world divided, where the 'Gutter' people are forced to work to pay off debts imposed by 'Mainland' society. While fictional, it mirrors in many ways both colonial history, and some of the racist, classist systems that persist today.⠀⠀
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The story begins with our teenage protagonist Elimina being dropped off at Livingstone Academy, a place reminiscent of the residential schools Indigenous children were forced into, where Gutter children are sent to prepare for a life of servitude, with hopes of one day repaying their debts and earning freedom.⠀⠀
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While the story may draw comparisons to some other dystopian fiction, I found it refreshing that rather than ignoring or glossing over racial disparities (hello Handmaid's Tale), Richardson brought them front and center, forcing the reader to confront how jarringly familiar to real life this whole scenario is. And while there is a lot of heaviness in the injustices that the characters face, the book is also a celebration of resistance and the resilience of a people that has survived in the face of a system built to destroy it.⠀⠀
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Richardson covers a lot of ground here, which made some parts of the book, particularly nearing the end, feel a bit rushed. I would have loved to go deeper into certain aspects of the story (the Project, the Network, the Hill), and I think there's a lot of potential for this to be an entire series, though I'm not sure that's the author's intention.⠀
The writing is straightforward, highly readable, and I think would go over particularly well with the YA crowd. Would love to see this showing up in highschool classrooms and curriculum!⠀⠀
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Overall an excellent debut that I can't stop thinking about. Highly recommend.
⠀⠀
The story begins with our teenage protagonist Elimina being dropped off at Livingstone Academy, a place reminiscent of the residential schools Indigenous children were forced into, where Gutter children are sent to prepare for a life of servitude, with hopes of one day repaying their debts and earning freedom.⠀⠀
⠀⠀
While the story may draw comparisons to some other dystopian fiction, I found it refreshing that rather than ignoring or glossing over racial disparities (hello Handmaid's Tale), Richardson brought them front and center, forcing the reader to confront how jarringly familiar to real life this whole scenario is. And while there is a lot of heaviness in the injustices that the characters face, the book is also a celebration of resistance and the resilience of a people that has survived in the face of a system built to destroy it.⠀⠀
⠀⠀
Richardson covers a lot of ground here, which made some parts of the book, particularly nearing the end, feel a bit rushed. I would have loved to go deeper into certain aspects of the story (the Project, the Network, the Hill), and I think there's a lot of potential for this to be an entire series, though I'm not sure that's the author's intention.⠀
The writing is straightforward, highly readable, and I think would go over particularly well with the YA crowd. Would love to see this showing up in highschool classrooms and curriculum!⠀⠀
⠀⠀
Overall an excellent debut that I can't stop thinking about. Highly recommend.