cantfindmybookmark's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Cannibalism
Minor: Alcoholism and Colonisation
edurie's review
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
silvae's review
dark
reflective
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Cannibalism, Animal death, Blood, Suicide, and Alcoholism
erkietheturkey's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Animal death, and Murder
Moderate: Violence, Death, Blood, and Cursing
Minor: Colonisation, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Grief, Racism, and Suicide
scorpstar77's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism
cepbreed's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
“The world isn’t ending,” she went on. “Our world isn’t ending. It already ended. It ended when the Zhaagnaash came into our original home down south on that bay and took it from us. That was our world.”
Holy shit. I was assigned this book as a part of my Indigenous Pop: Anticolonialism and Genre Fiction class and I never expected to love it so much. The building tension nearly had me shitting bricks. The way this book reads is perfectly timed with the rate at which the Ojibwe are also gaining more knowledge about their predicament. Sure, going into this book I knew it was apocalyptic fiction, but that never took away from the slow build of dread as the winter got colder and the electricity continued to stay shut off. I have an exactly equal amount of love and hate for the fact that the last couple chapters are so vague.
Spoiler
I appreciate not seeing incredibly graphic cannibalism but at the same time I would've loved to see Evan's POV again to just assure he is alive. After discussing this in class I cannot believe I was so blind to the obvious. Justin Scott is a wiindigo. He is trying to corrupt the community to his insane cause, he encouraged others to join him in cannibalism to survive the winter and became an even greater monster. This is even more scary thinking about how he followed the two boys from the city to their community, was he planning to attack and eat them? Then the man he shot, is his body actually decomposing in the snow or did he eat him?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Cannibalism, Death, Animal death, Murder, Abandonment, Grief, Gun violence, and Racism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Medical content, and Violence
Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
lyndzyrenee's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, but I kept waiting for it to get paranormal or But that's more on me and my preferences. Esp when I'm going into a book blind.
Also I highly recommend the audiobook if you'll struggle reading the characters' native tongue. The author explains what they're saying but it takes me out of the story when I don't know a word. So the audiobook helped me a lot!
Spoiler
people to start getting killed. Neither really happenAlso I highly recommend the audiobook if you'll struggle reading the characters' native tongue. The author explains what they're saying but it takes me out of the story when I don't know a word. So the audiobook helped me a lot!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Grief
Minor: Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Suicide, and Racism
bittennailbooks's review
dark
emotional
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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“Yes, apocalypse. We've had that over and over. But we always survived. We're still here. And we'll still be here, even if the power and the radios don't come back on and we never see any white people again.”
If you are a fan of "The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones, here is your next read. For being from 2018, Rice certainly predicts the future of post-pandemic ideologies, mass panic, and bleak survival. A devastating read about a power outage in a remote reserve and the surrounding area. This book does an incredible job about discussing the impacts of racism, residential schools, community, and trauma within the stories context of survival.
Thumbs up: One thing I've been sitting with since finishing this surprisingly short book is Rice's incredible way of not demonizing those who have been deeply impacted or removed from traditional ways of knowing. That there were serious and ongoing impacts of colonization and fleshes out the reasons that the conditions and plot (without spoiling it) resulted in how they did in the novel. The discussions of how ripping one from one's culture creates a reliance on oppressive structures that lead to the novels incredible conclusion.
Thumbs down: If you're looking for romantic prose, you will not find it here. The writing is very straight forward and overtly descriptive. However, that's certainly not a turn of for me with this novel.
Was it a nail biter? Absolutely, I devoured this book in one sitting and think it absolutely deserves space on your shelf at home.
If you are a fan of "The Only Good Indians" by Stephen Graham Jones, here is your next read. For being from 2018, Rice certainly predicts the future of post-pandemic ideologies, mass panic, and bleak survival. A devastating read about a power outage in a remote reserve and the surrounding area. This book does an incredible job about discussing the impacts of racism, residential schools, community, and trauma within the stories context of survival.
Thumbs up: One thing I've been sitting with since finishing this surprisingly short book is Rice's incredible way of not demonizing those who have been deeply impacted or removed from traditional ways of knowing. That there were serious and ongoing impacts of colonization and fleshes out the reasons that the conditions and plot (without spoiling it) resulted in how they did in the novel. The discussions of how ripping one from one's culture creates a reliance on oppressive structures that lead to the novels incredible conclusion.
Thumbs down: If you're looking for romantic prose, you will not find it here. The writing is very straight forward and overtly descriptive. However, that's certainly not a turn of for me with this novel.
Was it a nail biter? Absolutely, I devoured this book in one sitting and think it absolutely deserves space on your shelf at home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Spoiler content warning:Spoiler
Cannibalismmaregred's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Blood
cait's review
adventurous
challenging
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Xenophobia, Murder, Racism, Blood, Animal death, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Grief, and Violence