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midnightverde's review
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
This book is so beautiful and tender. The story builds slowly and there are a lot of things to wonder about as you learn about Jay and Max. There is a realness to the trauma and abuse that I appreciated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal cruelty and Colonisation
bodybeingsoulstl's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
You might like this book if you...
... and your brother are inseparable
... have ever been suspended at school
... want to grow along with the characters
there is something about this book that I can’t quite put my finger on… it’s a beautiful story. it is completely raw, emotional, just as life tends to be, sometimes. there is also the reminder that life comes with hope + healing, too. they reference Braiding Sweetgrass, where the major lesson of that book is reciprocity - the inherent harmony in the world, both giving + taking.
... and your brother are inseparable
... have ever been suspended at school
... want to grow along with the characters
there is something about this book that I can’t quite put my finger on… it’s a beautiful story. it is completely raw, emotional, just as life tends to be, sometimes. there is also the reminder that life comes with hope + healing, too. they reference Braiding Sweetgrass, where the major lesson of that book is reciprocity - the inherent harmony in the world, both giving + taking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Hate crime
michelle_my_belle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Grief
Minor: Colonisation
ex_libris_volantes's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
While it took me a moment to connect with the storytelling POV of Jay, Max’s poetic interludes were packed with so much emotion and lyricism that I soon found myself quite invested in both brothers and the attempts to repair their broken familial bonds through hardship and confronting their own pain and fears. Job well done, and I’ll definitely be interested in future works by this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
oldandnewbooksmell's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
Trigger Warnings: Domestic abuse, bullying, mental health; depression, alcoholism, death, mention of suicide
Before the incident in the woods, Max and Jay were pretty much connected at the hip, they had to be in order to protect themselves and their mother from their physically abusive father. Afterwards, their act of violence threatens the brothers’ dreams of their future. As the details of the event unfold throughout the book, Max and Jay take different courses as they think about their actions, their own shifting relationships, and just how alike to their father they may be. Told in alternating points of view using vignettes and poems, Saint of the Household tells of two Bribri brothers as they deal with brotherhood, abuse, recovery, and trying to do the right thing in their last few months of high school.
This isn’t an easy book - there’s no fuzzy feelings or giant smiles. These poor boys went through a lot in this story and it’s their journey of how they came out on the other side. Now, I will say the boys’ Grandfather does come in at one point and helps the boys reconnect with the Bribri culture and some of those lessons were tender and much needed for the boys.
I thoroughly enjoyed the vignettes of chapters that we got. It made the story read faster, but it also didn’t need any kind of filler in between and what was on the page was only the important stuff. Jay’s viewpoint is told in prose and is short and to the point. Max’s are in verse and sometimes into calligrams, which match perfectly with his escapism he uses in his art.
Overall, this is an incredible debut from Ari Tison and I can’t wait to see what they will write in the future. I can’t wait to share this book with others once it’s released and the amount of book lists I will be putting it on are endless.
*Thank you Farrer, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for a digital advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Domestic abuse
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