Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty

14 reviews

llams's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

These were short stories that followed characters over time. They were sad, human, and eye opening to experiences of indigenous folx living on Reservations

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Grief, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Violence, and Dementia

Minor: Child death

m47n's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

bkwrm1317's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Talty’s collection of connected short stories is intense, real, and dark. Reflecting on the reality of an Indigenous Tribal Penobscot family and some of their connections brings you to witness their humor, grief, addiction, culture, food, economic reality, and more. 

Pacing medium-slow made it harder for me to get through (and short stories aren’t my fave). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit

sundayfever's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.5

Dark but good read. Collection of short stories strung together. Nice to read an indigenous story set here in Maine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation

kvokolek's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual violence and Dementia

Minor: Pregnancy and Colonisation

mscalls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Colonisation

hannahlee's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Strange and illuminating to read this set of intense stories set so close to home for me, but depicting a world I know so little about. Short stories are not usually my favorite, but these are interconnected enough that  book feels as though it's on the verge of being a novel, constructed jumping around in time in a very effective, compelling way. I look forward to seeing what Morgan publishes next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Racism, Dementia, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, and Vomit

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

‘Night of the Living Rez’ by Morgan Talty is a set of vignettes that tell one Indigenous boy’s story as he grows up and looks to find his place in the world. Shifting from his childhood into his young adulthood, we get to see pieces of David’s life and how he relates to the world. 
This is an interesting book because I think that Talty’s writing is rich and evocative. It’s easy to care deeply for these characters and feel connected to them. He presents a very stark image of their existence and how their relationships shift over time. 
Despite this, I also had a hard time with this collection. Part of this is because I don’t think it is appropriate to call this a story collection. The story follows one character through different points in his life, looping back and forth in time such that for the entirety, I actually thought we were following two characters, a child and a young adult. The title is also a bit misleading as it leads one to believe this will be a horror story collection while it is much more contemporary literature. The fault here is really in the marketing, not in the book itself, which is an affecting piece about growing up Indigenous in Maine and David’s specific life story. 
I would recommend this book, but I think it is crucial to go into it understanding that it is not a horror short story collection as the title and description might lead you to believe but actually the story of a single character told through vignettes that loop through time between the character’s childhood and young adulthood.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, and Colonisation

sidneyreads_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Violence, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Sexual violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Classism