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marmoset737's review
3.0
Not as strong as Reservation Blues or Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian mainly because I didn't really get a strong sense of Zits as a character until the last five pages or so. Alexie is gifted at writing deeply flawed characters, but Zits wasn't so much simply flawed as kind of flat and boring - more of a storytelling, hatred-spewing device rather than a multi-faceted character with deep-rooted issues to overcome. Still though - an interesting introduction to many historical violent events in Native American history and a relatively quick-read.
collkay10's review
3.0
2.5/3 loved how quick this was to read and Zits’ narrative voice was so strong. The plot was a little strange, but I still feel confident with a 4 based on the ending and the issues related to foster care as well as stereotypes for American Indians that are brought up.
annebennett1957's review
4.0
An important expose about the long-reaching tentacles of hatred and the need for revenge. Zits, our protagonist time-travels and gains insight into why he is so angry and lonely. This book is very important.
jmrich's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
dlberglund's review
5.0
This book took longer than I expected to draw me in, but once it did, I was hooked. The narrator is a 15 year old boy (which I didn't realize when I picked it up...I just thought ooh! A Sherman Alexie novel is on sale!!) living in Seattle. His absent father is Indian, but he was raised by his white mom until he was 6 and she died. Then he bounces around to dozens of homes, running away and getting kicked out. The book shifts after he meets the slightly older Justice, while in jail. Justice changes the narrator's perspective and brings him to the pivotal moment in the narrator's life. At that moment, the book switches to magical realism. The narrator is zapped out of his body into the bodies of a series of people in other times and places. This is when the book had me hooked. I loved his journey through other people's pivotal moments, and loved the struggle between what the person's body wanted to do and what the narrator brought to the experience.
This was a very fast read for me, and I'd highly recommend it.
This was a very fast read for me, and I'd highly recommend it.
raohyrule's review against another edition
5.0
This was surprisingly emotional, for an English class assignment. I was not expecting it to be this good or deep.
It reminded me, oddly enough, of The World According to Garp.
It reminded me, oddly enough, of The World According to Garp.
katerslikegaters's review
challenging
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. It was too Crossland too harsh for middle-grade. Too explixit but the writing was very well done.
mmchampion's review
4.0
A great book on choice... Told from the perspective of an American Indian teenaged boy who has been shuffled from foster home to foster home. A moments decision takes him on a "flight" of choices that have been made throughout history. A good young adult book with language.
patlo's review
3.0
A reasonably engaging, quick read, but not fantastic. However, it is well worth sticking around for the last three chapters. Enough said.