Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Berry Pickers

Heartbreakingly beautiful. Like the author's short story collection, this novel explores the pervasive effects of colonialism on present day, family dynamics, and grief.

Some of the characters were so frustrating to read through (aka Norma's mother) that I didn't connect with the story as much as I wanted to. But the payoff was worth it, and I like the dual narrative, and how the twist is unveiled.

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nimeneth's review against another edition

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It's beautifully written but I just.... Couldn't. It was too sad, too negative, and I really couldn't connect with the characters. Norma felt like a cardboard cutout for the first half, and by the time she actually got interesting I was just over the book. Nobody but Alice has any real redeeming qualities, and Alice barely counts as a character since she's only there for a few pages overall. Joe gets no sympathy points for his illness. Also the whole parental guilt bullshit on top of everything else was too much.

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clairebartholomew549's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I found this book to be a thoughtful exploration of the epidemic of white families "adopting" indigenous children and of the generational trauma inflicted by centuries of oppression and forced assimilation. I liked the shifting perspectives, although I found Joe's to be a bit overwrought and self-pitying. I adored the depiction of the weight of Ruthie/Norma's "mother's" expectations and memories on her, and I appreciated how Ruthie/Norma slowly came to understand what had happened to her.

I saw in the reviews that this book was unsatisfying to many, and I agree that it could have benefitted from spending more time on what it was like for Ruthie to reunite with her family after so many years. I would have preferred less cataloguing of Joe's meandering life and more reckoning with the aftermath of Ruthie coming home and coming to terms with her identity.

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befrazzledenby's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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mktaylor15's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Well written but overall really sad so it got three stars. TW: child loss

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rachellbc's review against another edition

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4.75

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schausjk's review against another edition

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Emotional at times with some well-written moments, but also deeply predictable. The book sacrifices much of its tension and pacing in an attempt to lean into being more character driven, but even then it sometimes feels more like outlines of lives rather than fully fleshed out characters. This book would have benefitted from being longer and adding more depth to some of its themes.

As a side note, the repeated casual fatphobia was super irritating. Every single time the author brings up a character's weight, it's always to either make fat characters the butt of a joke or with implications that the fat characters are disgusting or have let themselves go (sometimes it's both!).

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