Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

12 reviews

madelinemarigold's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Very informative historical fiction, discusses the attempt to disband (destroy, exterminate) the turtle mountain band of the Ojibwe and the community that came together to stop americas attack on indigenous sovereignty. Language, sisterhood, whiteness, love, indigenous (ojibwe) cosmology, and Mormonism are all explored

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Genocide, Trafficking, Torture, and Drug use

Minor: Death

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Alcoholism, Confinement, Slavery, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Rape, and Trafficking

booknerd_therapist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Genocide, Sexism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Addiction, Alcoholism, Racism, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, and Animal death

Minor: Deportation

waterbear0821's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

As with any Pulitzer Prize winning literature, expect beautiful prose…and probably a sense of melancholy. Isn’t that the way of it? This book was excellent. It’s significantly based on the author’s ancestor and a real house resolution to terminate his tribe. The story contains rich historical details and it’s filled with both humor and sadness. I don’t read literature very often because my heart can’t always take it but I would recommend this without hesitation for the interesting, character-based story, the beautiful writing, and the history lesson. As a note, I listened to the audiobook version, which was read by the author - almost always hearing the book read by the author improves it and I suspect it did in this case. The writing shifts between perspectives of characters (and even objects) without warning but I had no trouble following these shifts while listening. I think the depth of perspective only added to the story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Genocide and Sexism

Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual content

tlaynejones's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Genocide, Confinement, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Kidnapping, Rape, Torture, and Genocide

Minor: Death of parent

republicofben's review

emotional hopeful inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Although the synopsis and subject matter of this book piqued my interest, I found it hard to stay engaged with the story. Aside from the slow pace of the story's main events, the part that made it hard for me to make it through this book was the large cast of characters. One theme of this book - and also something I expect the author hoped readers would take away - is the diversity of people part of and that interact with a community. I did enjoy meeting and getting to know the wide cast of characters, but the constant switching of narrators caused the pace of the book's main events to be slow and drawn out. My rating breaks down to the book not suiting my tastes, but one I would still recommend to someone looking for a book that deals with Native American stories and history or a true ensemble book that flips between narrators.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Xenophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, and Genocide

erica_palmisano's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Fascinating and surprising. I haven't spent a lot of time in places like North Dakota & Minnesota during the 1950s, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The story was vivid and covered some difficult realities, but also kind and grounded in the details of daily life and simple pleasures. The audio narration was straight-forwardly lovely – cadence and style were simple and it was good to hear the fragments of the Chippewa language pronounced properly too. So glad I read this and got to meet these characters!

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Trafficking, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Misogyny, Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, and Sexual violence

siiriainen's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcoholism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Genocide

helenferg's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Racism

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

pavonini's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective 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

5.0

This is the book I'd most like to stay in this year. Absolutely loved it. The characters & relationships were so beautifully observed. The gentle humour was perfect, and balanced out the sadness. I felt like I was there, in a different place, a different time, a different culture.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Genocide