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A review by osomo
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I would prefer it if the author has explored some of the themes touched upon in the book at more depth.
For instance, there is a comment one character makes about police brutality to, as he puts it, people in general, and it seems almost like and afterthought and is not brought up again, the book focuses on crimes against a particular group of people and forgets to explore police brutality at large. In this sense the book does not give new insights to police brutality, thus, i am not happy with the way it was vaguely brought up in a conversation and brushed off.
Another thing I was unhappy about was the way the main character’s problematic relationship with her baby daddy was shown. A secondary character denounced it (way post-factum), but made it clear everyone around them knew this relationship and this person were problematic and did nothing. At the same time, the main character spends most of the time oblivious to the problem and then is simply extremely ashamed. Shame plays a significant role in her life (in situations in which she should not be ashamed, since she was not even at fault etc.), and she never deals that feeling and what causes it, she does not reconsider the situation, she does not learn that she has nothing to be ashamed of. And as a survivor of a similar scenario to what she went through, I do not appreciate how this reinforces the idea that women should be victimised and ashamed. Also, the fact that others could have stopped a gr**mer and didn’t is not addressed properly. The topic is brought up in the middle of the book and then forgotten. The main character does not address her feelings, does nothing about the situation, police does nothing, nobody acknowledges that this isn’t right. It seems that the line with the pr*dator was only introduced to give readers a “bad guy” to suspect in the crimes. But in real life trauma would affect the main character and stay with her, not just come and go at convenient for the plot times.
Thus, since the author is clearly trying to raise awareness about certain issues, which the acknowledgements show, the author should be attentive to the points they bring about and how the sentiments expressed in the book may contribute to problematic ideas and myths.
I liked the pacing of the book and the main story focusing on the relationships between two sisters. I liked that there were two timelines: contemporary events and the memories.
I will not comment on the plot-twists and the murder mystery reveal since those seem to be just a background to the main things the book is trying to do.
I was not too happy with the way the second sister’s current day story was revealed (in a bulk of text, bland retelling of the events), felt like pacing slowed down in that part, not matching with the rest of the more subtle narration, but it was not too long, so not a huge deal.
Mainly, the time I spent with this book was a good one.
It is not my place to tell whether the book discusses the main issues it focuses on (dr*g ab*se and how it affects people, families and communities) was explored with enough care and depth, but as a person who knows little about it these problems, I thought the author did a good job in exploring them. The characters (and the readers) learnt about different aspects of the issues, gained understanding and changed their perception by the end of the story.
I only wish the other important issues the author raised were concluded in a similar way.
For instance, there is a comment one character makes about police brutality to, as he puts it, people in general, and it seems almost like and afterthought and is not brought up again, the book focuses on crimes against a particular group of people and forgets to explore police brutality at large. In this sense the book does not give new insights to police brutality, thus, i am not happy with the way it was vaguely brought up in a conversation and brushed off.
Another thing I was unhappy about was the way the main character’s problematic relationship with her baby daddy was shown. A secondary character denounced it (way post-factum), but made it clear everyone around them knew this relationship and this person were problematic and did nothing. At the same time, the main character spends most of the time oblivious to the problem and then is simply extremely ashamed. Shame plays a significant role in her life (in situations in which she should not be ashamed, since she was not even at fault etc.), and she never deals that feeling and what causes it, she does not reconsider the situation, she does not learn that she has nothing to be ashamed of. And as a survivor of a similar scenario to what she went through, I do not appreciate how this reinforces the idea that women should be victimised and ashamed. Also, the fact that others could have stopped a gr**mer and didn’t is not addressed properly. The topic is brought up in the middle of the book and then forgotten. The main character does not address her feelings, does nothing about the situation, police does nothing, nobody acknowledges that this isn’t right. It seems that the line with the pr*dator was only introduced to give readers a “bad guy” to suspect in the crimes. But in real life trauma would affect the main character and stay with her, not just come and go at convenient for the plot times.
Thus, since the author is clearly trying to raise awareness about certain issues, which the acknowledgements show, the author should be attentive to the points they bring about and how the sentiments expressed in the book may contribute to problematic ideas and myths.
I liked the pacing of the book and the main story focusing on the relationships between two sisters. I liked that there were two timelines: contemporary events and the memories.
I will not comment on the plot-twists and the murder mystery reveal since those seem to be just a background to the main things the book is trying to do.
I was not too happy with the way the second sister’s current day story was revealed (in a bulk of text, bland retelling of the events), felt like pacing slowed down in that part, not matching with the rest of the more subtle narration, but it was not too long, so not a huge deal.
Mainly, the time I spent with this book was a good one.
It is not my place to tell whether the book discusses the main issues it focuses on (dr*g ab*se and how it affects people, families and communities) was explored with enough care and depth, but as a person who knows little about it these problems, I thought the author did a good job in exploring them. The characters (and the readers) learnt about different aspects of the issues, gained understanding and changed their perception by the end of the story.
I only wish the other important issues the author raised were concluded in a similar way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence