Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

19 reviews

matcha_cat's review against another edition

informative 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Trafficking

Minor: Kidnapping, Rape, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent

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

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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

tlaynejones's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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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

frogknitting's review

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I didn't like this one as much as The Sentence, but I'm also not a big historical fiction fan, so that's just a personal preference thing. It was a very good book. There were a lot of character names in there to keep up with, which was disconcerting at times. Also, Patrice's immediate situation when she gets to the Cities was odd as well, just because it seemed to be immediate and not fitting the tone of the book before then. I know it was important/necessary, but I wish that the tone could have shifted a bit more before that.

Other than that, I really liked this book. I swore it was written in the 90s, but apparently not. The omniscient point of view threw me at first, but I grew used to it and became a pretty big fan, especially considering how Erdrich used it. Having a few chapters from animals' perspectives was cool. It's a very good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism

Minor: Gun violence

have_a_doris_day's review

challenging emotional informative reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Death, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Domestic abuse

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.

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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!

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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

kimveach's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Such a good story - based upon the true fight by the Turtle Mountain band of the Chippewa against the government's plan for the termination of the reservation and support of their people. She brings to life so many different characters and elements of reservation life in the 1950s.  I love these characters and hated to leave them when the book ended.  I'll be reading more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, and Incest

teresareads's review

emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation, Violence, Trafficking, Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Genocide, Death of parent, and Kidnapping