A review by oofsharkz73
The Things She's Seen by Ezekiel Kwaymullina, Ambelin Kwaymullina

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was my second reading of this book, and I wish I'd known how I felt about it the first time so I could compare how I felt then/now, but I only vaguely remembered reading it in the first place. I'd say it was worth reading again. It is a quick, heartfelt novel, centering around racism, murder, child abuse, and grief. The spirituality and symbolism is what draws you in and keeps you reading with The Things She's Seen. While I feel like with any other 'mystery' novel, the conclusion would have been obvious from the start, the symbolism with colors and crows and Fetchers from Catching's perspective keeps the mystery alive. At times the novel unravels in a rather convoluted manner, however I feel as though it was a great way to approach some of the darker secrets revealed in the novel. 

"...He'd say there was no such thing as monsters. There were ... But [we] had only seen the men." 

The story has the capability of moving you if you approach it with the right mindset, or if you enjoy a book that runs a little off skew to the typical mystery novel. 
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