Reviews with content warning for Grief - Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid

22 reviews

megnut's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

It was not what I was expecting, but one I'm still glad I picked up.

It tells the story of the dozens of indigenous women and girls who've gone missing in B.C. by their families in the long battle for not only justice but also to simply know what happened to their loved one.

It made me heart hurt over and over to hear how these girls and their families were so abandoned & abused by the system for years.

Content Warnings

crybabybea's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative sad medium-paced

4.0

A very compassionate, thorough account of the tragedy of MMIW on Canada's Highway of Tears.

I really appreciated how the author spent time with many of the standout cases of the Highway of Tears, and took an empathetic point of view on not only their case but their life and the way they affected their relatives and friends. I have a lot of issues with the genre of true crime, and I felt like this book was done with love & care with respect to the victims and their loved ones. If you are a fan of true crime, you will like the way this is written.

Jessica McDiarmid also made sure to talk about the many systemic issues, pointing out all the broken cogs in a broken wheel.

There were some times I wish the argumentation was a bit more solid and in-depth, and there could have been more acknowledgment of 2SLGBTQIA+ people, but to be honest, the breadth of this issue is huge, with so many systemic issues that play a role that could each have their own book. I have to appreciate that the author tackled this issue and the respectful way she approached it.

Content Warnings

alexisgarcia's review

Go to review page

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

maddimclark's review

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Highway of tears is an expose of an ongoing national crisis of the injustice of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Compile of reports, newspaper articles, official reports, memories, statistics, intricate details of the lives and fates of the women and families proves of the overpoliced and under protected in our marginalised communities. The RCMP and the Canadian government have committed a grave violation of the rights of Indigenous women and girls; continuously to not take these losses seriously, and fail to support the safety and well-being of Indigenous Women and girls and bring justice for their families and communities .

McDiarmid breathes life into the victims while hard-hitting the realities of systemic racism , acts of violence, complicity, and Indigenous women suffering.

Content Warnings

highleyginger's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

This book is heavy. It reflects the tragedies of aboriginal groups within Canada, how children around 14 were murdered along the highway of tears, the victim blaming done by police by saying they were alcoholics and prostitutes, even when at that age, it is rape. Yes, some were sex workers but the lack of care and interest directly lead to a long term abuse, murder, and neglect of indigenous communities across North America.

It lays out options on how groups can work to improve the situation but often are met by being viewed as "not worth the political spending" even though they are extremely marginalized by fault of the government and colonialism to begin with.

This book names so many names. Even taking my time, I'm overwhelmed by just how many dead it took to get some level of momentum to look into this cause.

This is a strong reflection of the changes society must make for women in general but especially those of marginalized communities.

Content Warnings

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

This book provides an important overview of the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. True crime done with compassion and in collaboration with families and communities, there is justice done in the portrayal of lost loved ones and the joys they had in life. This will make you furious at the inaction, continuous stalling to address these problems and the racially, gendered motivation to disregard Indigenous women’s lives. If you want to learn more about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, check out this book.

I do have to say, two of the most popular books written on this topic are by white women journalists, and it’s worth keeping that in mind while reading these books about why Indigenous Peoples telling our own stories haven’t received the same reach…

Content Warnings