A review by trout_lily
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

On the one hand it is a gorgeous generations-spanning Canadian-Lebanese story about a part of Canada I know so little about- Cape Breton.  It's a story of deep trauma, sexual abuse and neglect, the secrets that are kept from others so one can survive, and the ways in which 3 sisters understand and respond to their circumstances so differently. On the other hand it is excruciatingly long. I struggled to get through it -mostly the middle chunk during what felt like decades of girls growing up in circles.  I put it down many times but I eventually finished it. It was somewhat worth finishing, but ugh,  it really, really,  really needed an editor. 
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