Reviews

The Strangers by katherena vermette

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lil_kt's review

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3.0

God this was depressing

han_reads_13579's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

maxmanga's review

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challenging dark 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

5.0

Wow, I thought "The Break" was excellent but this book? Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. The very first chapter sets you up for the poignant, emotional, and deeply insightful story Vermette has given us.

I LOVED the way she tells this story. The way she weaves the Stranger women's stories and then shows us how they root and grow from one another, their traumas and triumphs reflecting in each other's experiences and developments, IS PERFECTION. She makes you hate The Strangers, and love them, and feel the frustration of the cycles they get stuck in, and love them even more again.

I've said this before and I'll say it again - Vermette has an incomparable way of holding her readers and her characters so softly, so nurturingly, through all the intergenerational pain, injustice, abuse, and loss that is described in her books.

She shows us some of the mundane, everyday bits and pieces and corners and fleeting moments where the echoes of deep trauma can be heard. At the same time, she reminds us that there is an unstoppable source of love and community of care that holds it all together. An intergenerational gift of ancestral wisdom and unbreakable spirit that is passed on and guides its recipients on their paths.

HIGHLY recommend this book and I am convinced there will be a third based on the last line! PLEASE LET THERE BE A THIRD KATHERENA PLEASE!!

3smallsalsmum's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was recommended by a co-worker and was a good read. It reminded me a bit of Legacy by Waubgesheg Rice. The story bounced around un-chronologically a bit, but not too unpleasantly. The story was heartbreaking and also thought-provoking with a dash of hopefulness.