emmacristina 's review for:

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich

4.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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it took me a while to get into this one, especially with the cast of characters being quite large. but it was so worth it! 
loved:
-exploring concepts of guardian angels, haunting, spirituality
-the mystery of what happened to the high school football team
-descriptions of farmer love felt very real and grounded in reality, loved the exploration of the effects of pesticides and the impacts of co-op crops
-winnie as the mother-in-law 
-crystal and kismet as mother daughter
-character names

less loved:
-martins plotline: I felt like I missed something here or I would have liked a bit more in terms of a resolution
-eric I think also needed a bit more of a resolution 

extra notes:
saw lots of reviews calling this book funny and humorous and the tone more lighthearted than usual. my brain might be broken but I didn't find it funny. like some parts were funny but I didn't feel like humour was a huge theme throughout. 

do you have a guardian angel, or are you haunted? who survives and who deserves to? why do we make the decisions we do?

this is a love letter to small rural communities and a love letter to silly high schoolers falling in love and doing stupid things!