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Reviews tagging 'Child death'
Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel James Brown
126 reviews
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Graphic: Child death, Cannibalism
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Murder
I really enjoyed how the author weaved scientific information about how people's minds and bodies would likely respond to the situations that they found themselves in. I feel like the added context really helped me to empathize and understand more deeply what they all went through.
I thought I knew the gist of what happened to them, but this thorough account made me realize I had absolutely no idea. The author brought all of these people to life so well, that I feared for all of their fates, even though these events are almost 200 years in the past.
I feel like reading this gave me a deeper appreciation for not only the people and story of the Donner Party, but also for all of the people living in this time. They were people just like us, but living in drastically different circumstances. Also I was shocked by how there are still some through lines in our political climate that mirror those of that time, even though the US was a very different place then.
All of the people that traveled the Oregon Trail were extremely brave, taking on a months long journey into the unknown and out of the country they knew. Part of me does hold some resentment, knowing that all of these (mostly) white settlers were all too happy to move into lands and territories that already had indigenous people living there and "manifest destiny" makes me angry.
This was extremely well written and really made me ponder a lot of different things. The heroics of frontier travelers, the horrors of the Donner Party, the frustrating political climate, racism and sexism of the time, the pain and suffering of all of the animals forced to be enslaved by humans, the inner workings of the human body while under extreme stress and the overarching philosophical nature of being tiny humans in a huge universe, trying to make something of the short time we have on this planet.
10/10 would recommend.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Racism, Cannibalism, Murder
Moderate: Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Graphic: Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Abandonment, Colonisation
Minor: Racism, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Cannibalism
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent
Minor: Racism
Graphic: Child death, Death, Cannibalism, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Classism