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semeyers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, but I can see why the reviews for it are so middling. This is definitely not a book for everyone, you're either going to love it or hate it.
It is a moody, atmospheric, and character driven novel. It is a swiftly flowing book that weaves together the present with the past, both recent and far back, while still remaining very much a "slice of life" of each character. It combines modern ideals with Cherokee myth. It does not give everything away. The endings for each of the characters are ambiguous and leave the reader to fill in many of the blanks. Of the stories, I really found Sonia and Tsala's the most compelling, though Edgar's chapters had me at the edge of my seat.
This was a quicker read and I highly recommend it giving it a shot even if it doesn't seem appealing to you.
It is a moody, atmospheric, and character driven novel. It is a swiftly flowing book that weaves together the present with the past, both recent and far back, while still remaining very much a "slice of life" of each character. It combines modern ideals with Cherokee myth. It does not give everything away. The endings for each of the characters are ambiguous and leave the reader to fill in many of the blanks. Of the stories, I really found Sonia and Tsala's the most compelling, though Edgar's chapters had me at the edge of my seat.
This was a quicker read and I highly recommend it giving it a shot even if it doesn't seem appealing to you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Gun violence, and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Drug use
crabbytaco's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Dementia, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Child death
mbmayo's review
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is told from multiple perspectives. I was moved by Maria's perspective of losing family to violence, drug addiction and illness. While Edgar's storyline became bizarre and the metaphors presented were quite overt, I still felt compelled by his story. The interjections from the spirit, Tsala, helped me step into a world filled with spirits. I found myself annoyed and confused by Sonya's story line.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Death, Addiction, Dementia, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Stalking, Colonisation, Drug use, Grief, Genocide, and Violence
Minor: Confinement and Racism
darcyreadssometimes's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book was trippy, unsettling, and stunning. The story is told through multiple perspectives, with three from present day characters and one from Tsala, an important person in Cherokee legend. There is not a clear line between the spirit world and our world, and one of the characters struggles with drug addiction, so things are not always as they seem. This felt like literary fiction with splashes of horror. The ending had me feeling a little confused, sad, but also hopeful. I donโt want to say more for fear of spoiling anything, but Iโll leave this quote:
๐๐บ๐ข๐ต๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ท๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ.โ ๐๐บ๐ข๐ต๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต? ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ
This was also my first read in my 2021 challenge to myself to read at least 12 books by Indigenous authors. Things I googled (and would recommend googling) to enhance my reading experience: the Trail of Tears, Tsala, and the Darkening.
While I donโt think this book is for everyone, I recommend it, especially to people who enjoy literary fiction, who like weird books, who appreciate morally grey characters, and who like seeking connections across seemingly disparate storylines.
๐๐บ๐ข๐ต๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ท๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด.
โ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ.โ ๐๐บ๐ข๐ต๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ, ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต? ๐๐ตโ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.โ
This was also my first read in my 2021 challenge to myself to read at least 12 books by Indigenous authors. Things I googled (and would recommend googling) to enhance my reading experience: the Trail of Tears, Tsala, and the Darkening.
While I donโt think this book is for everyone, I recommend it, especially to people who enjoy literary fiction, who like weird books, who appreciate morally grey characters, and who like seeking connections across seemingly disparate storylines.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, Stalking, and Domestic abuse
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