A review by lindsayw
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

4.0

I was absolutely certain I was going to give this book 3 stars, but the ending was so spectacularly good that I'm feeling very affectionate about the whole book now and that is making me more generous.

I was surprised while reading this that it didn't really grab me the way "Three Day Road" or "The Orenda" did, and I think the comparison and previous awesome Joseph Boyden experiences maybe made me enjoy this book less. I think I just prefer him as a historical fiction writer. When reading about Annie's experiences in Toronto and New York, I just didn't care about her at all, and normally the characters Boyden writes about are beautiful and compelling. When she talks about her life back home though, she's much better, and I really enjoyed her narration.

Interestingly, the one character who couldn't speak was my favourite: Gordon is fantastically written, despite never having any dialogue. I really got attached to him, and spent a huge portion of the book worrying that he was going to be killed off.

Overall, not as amazing as previous Boyden reads, but still definitely worthwhile and enjoyable, even if only for the magnificent ending.