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4saradouglas's review
4.0
This book only took me an hour or two to read... it was just really quick. I can't even say much about it... just that it was very good. Alexie has a way with words that I can't describe. The book just seemed very real, even though it was obviously fiction/fantasy/whatever. Overall it's just an entertaining story that has a point and is worth the time and effort.
toucanjam's review
3.0
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian made me laugh like crazy! For some reason though, I thought Sherman Alexie’s other novels would be lacking in that same vibrant character(spoiler:it wasn’t ;) This quarantine season, I really appreciated getting another taste of his humorous writing style, even though this book, to me, pales quite a bit in comparison to the excellence of Part-Time Indian. For one, there are SO MANY lingering questions, I have, but it’s okay since it didn’t really take away my enjoyment of the story or the message that was intended. The message, though a little heavy handed, served a positive purpose and I can forgive the after school preachiness affect along with some other issues I had with the writing, because I really just had a good time reading from the point of view of a snarky half Indian kid named Zits. It almost seemed like his prototype for Junior’s story. An appropriate title too—I literally flew through those pages!
susanneanette's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
thewrittenwarrior's review
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
shirtypantser's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
proffy's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
4.0
jameshousworth's review
4.0
Really unique perspective. Most stories centered around American Indians that I’ve read tend to be very black-and-white, whites-are-evil-and-Indians-are-perfect sort of writing, but this was brutally honest about the shortcomings (and redeeming qualities) of everybody.
I didn’t always love the juvenile humor and super graphic depictions of violence, which brought this down to 4 stars for me. But the author really crammed a lot of interesting characters and ideas into such a short book, without it ever feeling preachy or pandering. I definitely plan on reading more Alexie books!
I didn’t always love the juvenile humor and super graphic depictions of violence, which brought this down to 4 stars for me. But the author really crammed a lot of interesting characters and ideas into such a short book, without it ever feeling preachy or pandering. I definitely plan on reading more Alexie books!
dreamgalaxies's review
2.0
I have a booktube channel now! Subscribe here.
I love the themes of this book so much--the futility of revenge, the importance of perspective, the insistence on nonviolence--and I like the plot...despite the too-neat-tucked-up ending that seems to cleanly resolve everything despite the rage, fear and pain the narrator has been through since a very young age. But I don't like the tone so much. There's no subtlety here, which may not offend some but it made me cringe at various points. Some of this may be due to the overenthusiastic narrator on the audiobook, though. Furthermore, the female characters have absolutely no value that is not sexual. Sure, this is a preteen narrating and I get that makes for some inevitable sexualizing of female characters...but it really disturbed me that he really doesn't seem to see women as humans with complex motivations the way he does men.
Anyway TL;DR this wasn't a terrible book but it's extremely didactic. Was this marketed as a YA novel? I was just expecting better from Alexie, I guess.
I love the themes of this book so much--the futility of revenge, the importance of perspective, the insistence on nonviolence--and I like the plot...despite the too-neat-tucked-up ending that seems to cleanly resolve everything despite the rage, fear and pain the narrator has been through since a very young age. But I don't like the tone so much. There's no subtlety here, which may not offend some but it made me cringe at various points. Some of this may be due to the overenthusiastic narrator on the audiobook, though. Furthermore, the female characters have absolutely no value that is not sexual. Sure, this is a preteen narrating and I get that makes for some inevitable sexualizing of female characters...but it really disturbed me that he really doesn't seem to see women as humans with complex motivations the way he does men.
Anyway TL;DR this wasn't a terrible book but it's extremely didactic. Was this marketed as a YA novel? I was just expecting better from Alexie, I guess.