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A review by hannahpachet_
Tilly and the Crazy Eights by Monique Gray Smith
2.0
I think the two things this book suffered from the most were that it tried to do way too much, and that it “told” rather than “showed.” If I’m remembering correctly there were 9 characters who were “main characters,” and the novel constantly jumped between their perspectives. One character would be discussing really hard-hitting issues, such as their experience in residential school, and then the story would pivot
to someone else, then a few pages later to another person. In a book that’s only 230 pages long, the amount of characters and storylines it had were just too many to let you feel anything particularly deeply.
It also just consistently told things to the reader explicitly — if a character was crying, the exact things that led to their memory as well as the exact reasons why the memory upset them were laid out. I wish the author had had a little bit more trust in the reader to understand some of the nuances, because it wound up frequently feeling like an educational text veiled by fictional characters, and rather than working well it was reminiscent of middle-grade novel studies that have a very clear goal for the reader and didn’t want to risk anyone missing the point of the story.
That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate the commentary on issues that are absolutely relevant in our real world — it touched on things that Indigenous groups constantly have to deal with in our current culture, as well as a variety of other topics felt by many as they grow up. I think the exploration of these characters as they were all on a road trip with a clear destination — and one that was very much related to many of the individual stories — was a great narrative choice. But for me to really enjoy it, I think it needed to be longer, perhaps have fewer POV characters, and focus on one character for at least a chapter at a time, so that they were able to gain more depth.
to someone else, then a few pages later to another person. In a book that’s only 230 pages long, the amount of characters and storylines it had were just too many to let you feel anything particularly deeply.
It also just consistently told things to the reader explicitly — if a character was crying, the exact things that led to their memory as well as the exact reasons why the memory upset them were laid out. I wish the author had had a little bit more trust in the reader to understand some of the nuances, because it wound up frequently feeling like an educational text veiled by fictional characters, and rather than working well it was reminiscent of middle-grade novel studies that have a very clear goal for the reader and didn’t want to risk anyone missing the point of the story.
That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate the commentary on issues that are absolutely relevant in our real world — it touched on things that Indigenous groups constantly have to deal with in our current culture, as well as a variety of other topics felt by many as they grow up. I think the exploration of these characters as they were all on a road trip with a clear destination — and one that was very much related to many of the individual stories — was a great narrative choice. But for me to really enjoy it, I think it needed to be longer, perhaps have fewer POV characters, and focus on one character for at least a chapter at a time, so that they were able to gain more depth.