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jacquelynjoan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This is a wonderful book full of love of community and culture and family, but in a complicated, real-feeling way. There is a lot of tragedy and saddness there, but it doesn't totally overwhelm you because there is balance and the main character is rooted in her values and has a support system.
I live in the USA, so on Native land, and I really appreciate any opportunity to learn more about the land I live on and the people who have cared for it for centuries before my great grandparents moved here from Italy. Especially when the author makes it so fun to learn!
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
alexiconic's review against another edition
- 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
this book had everything. good twists, a wonderful hero with her own demons and dilemmas, intricate and difficult family relations, friendship and community, and an articulation of that time of life where we try to find our purpose on earth. oh, and a thrilling crime-y plot.
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
The writing ranges from dry to pointedly (in other words, unnaturally) quotable, and the dialogue is somehow even more stilted and unrealistically grammatically flawless than the narration. A few spoken lines toward the end literally go on uninterrupted and with no stuttering or backtracking for 100+ words; virtually no one, let alone who's suffered recent repeated physical trauma, is that eloquent. Information is revealed in stilted blocks and repeated ten times over. I don't think any teenager -- or person at all -- in the history of cell phones has ever texted like the teenagers in this book are written as doing.
In terms of substance, there's a lot left to be desired as well. All of the individual narrative threads -- or at least most of them -- would make interesting stories, but here they're all kind of crammed into one unbalanced mess. Is the central plot supposed to be Daunis's complex relationship with her family members and community? Her desire to pursue a career in medicine/science and unite traditional and more modern "scientific" practices? Her recovering from and learning about the factors leading up to her best friend's sudden, tragic death? Her role as an undercover informant in an FBI investigation involving meth and her community (as much suspension of disbelief as that requires)? Her and Jamie's relationship? A general critical overview of the treatment of Indigenous women in American and Canadian society? It's never really decided, and so we jump awkwardly from one to the other without more natural transitions or better multitasking, leading to really overall odd pacing.
The general emotional pacing never quite hits either. A significant medical detail about the protagonist is made explicit for the first time 70% in and never serves any real relevance (and is outright contradicted or ignored at other times). Major traumatic events like the murder of Daunis's best friend and
The characters -- including, perhaps especially Daunis -- lack depth, whittled down to one trait (not even one that is shown, but told... multiple times). The supporting cast especially kind of blends together as a result of that weird pacing and unrealistic, stilted dialogue. I couldn't get a real sense of any of their motivations, so the culprit reveal and relationships all feel more than lackluster. In that regard, the romance is particularly egregious, even putting aside the core issues with
Overall, quite disappointing execution of multiple interesting premises, and I remain bewildered by the overwhelmingly positive response. Perhaps it was a great book for many others, but nothing about it ended up clicking or sitting well with me.
(Also, urine, even your own, is not actually sterile! Please do not use it as a substitute for hydrogen peroxide. I know this is set in 2004 -- as little as there is to solidly ground it there -- and a lot of people believe that myth even today, but it just feels... irresponsible to include in a book like this, especially framed as an objective valuable fact.)
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
charliebriggs96's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
findleydunn's review
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
nefariousbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
the biggest asset of this book for me was the huge part that played the MC's indigenous American heritage. absolutely loved that and I wish there were more stories with such deep and loving portrayal of an indigenous culture.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Infidelity, Dementia, Grief, and Gaslighting
emsim's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death and Kidnapping
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
tigger89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The pacing in this book is weird, I'm gonna warn you. Again, I think that it worked, but if you're going into this expecting a fast-paced FBI thriller, you're not going to be happy. To give you an idea what I mean, it's about 85 pages(out of 494) before the incident that propels the plot forward even goes down. Now that's not to say that the early pages are wasted. To the contrary, they build the world and establish the relationships that truly make us care about Daunis and her community. They're very necessary to carry the rest of the book. But they're slow, and you're going to spend about 75% of your reading time on the first 25% of the book. The pace picks up as the story goes on though, with a final action sequence that I loved and a 40-ish page denouement, which I also loved, but I'm weird like that.
Something that I'm very conflicted about is how the early 2000s were represented. The time period feels very accurate to me in terms of character values and how they approach things. This, however, leads directly to my biggest beef with this book: the central romance is questionable at best and predatory at worst. An 18-22 age gap is already on the edge of being a bad idea. Throw in the power dynamics, and those red flags are waving so hard they're about to fly off the pole. However, this is looking at it from a 2021(the publication year) perspective. In the 00s, when the novel is set, this would have been seen as thrilling and romantic(source: I was there). I wasn't surprised at all to read in the author's note that Boulley started work on this idea back in the 00s. And yes, the relationship did have to be romantic in nature; a platonic relationship wouldn't have hit the same notes that were necessary to drive the plot and themes, and I say this as someone who's notorious for deeming romantic subplots unnecessary. I guess I'll chalk this one up as points for historical accuracy, and be thankful that the kids seem to be doing better these days.
Continuing in the theme of "things from the 00s I'd rather see left behind," I want to note that the only gay in this book had been buried even before the first page. Again, there's period accuracy in this, because it was a rough time to be out in high school so many students simply didn't, especially if there wasn't already an established gay-straight alliance. But this novel was published in 2021, and today's readers expect better. I can understand not wanting to dive into the issues, but don't bury the only gay and call it good, because it's not!
The last thing I was conflicted about was the representation of Ojibwe culture and values. Boulley shares a lot, which is a good thing, but at times it felt repetitive. Rather than merely showing something she would explain it, and rather than explaining it just the once she'd often explain it several times, as if to make sure the reader had understood. To end on a high note, one of my favorite things about this book was the elders, especially how the relationships seeded over the course of the story came back into play at the end. That was a good example of showing Daunis's devotion to the elders in her community with a minimum of telling us that it's important to her culture, and I wish the other aspects of Ojibwe culture had been explored in the same manner.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Dementia
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism and Infidelity
therainbowshelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia
Murdered and missing girls and womenmaddiebusick's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, and Alcohol
Minor: Colonisation