mslaureeslibrary 's review for:

Tall Man: The Death of Doomadgee by Chloe Hooper

3.25

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Brief Summary: A Chronicle of the investigation into the in-custody death of an Cameron Domadgee, Aboriginal man, on Palm Island that was allegedly caused by a policy officer, Chris Hurley. The author follows the case, digs into the past of both men and documents the inquest and trial. 

Mini Review: I am torn on how to review this book. The core story was well documented including the inquest, I could tell the author strove to remain balanced in presenting the case. I learned a lot about the treatment of the Aboriginal people in Australia. While I felt the author strove to provide background about the history of the police force, the history of Australia’s indigenous peoples and to provide her experience in exploring more about her country’s history, her bias and judgment of the Aboriginal people was still evident on the page. There were also some issues with the writing style, specifically at times it seems to be stream of consciousness in flowing back and forth between stories and histories which made the reading experience jarring. I am looking for books by Aboriginal authors into this subject and their own history to better compliment my understand and honor their own experience, not told through the “white” perspective. This book does echo that in-custody deaths of black and indigenous people’s is not isolated to the United States and seismic racism and generational trauma is a wider problem for colonized nations across the globe. This is another title that I would recommend reviewing trigger warnings before you start. 

 

Overall rating: 3.25 

Writing: 3 

Structure: 3 

Pacing: 3 

Emotional impact: 4.5