Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

19 reviews

whitneyonline's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

What a beautiful book about identity, spirituality, family, and community. A recurring theme throughout is Virgil's disconnect and disbelief in the "traditional ways" and spirituality of the Lakota. He feels strong ties to his community which keeps him from leaving the rez, but otherwise he's not sure what he believes in, ultimately thinking most of it is a sham. He grapples with the pain and suffering of his ancestors and how those struggles are mirrored in the lives of Lakotas today. Yes, there are thrills, but ultimately that's not the focus of the book. Everything comes full circle at the end and it is utterly beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Torture, Car accident, Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, Genocide, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, and Grief

just dark themes in general. Virgil goes into detail about many of the cases that he has taken on, which basically always includes physical abuse, substance dependency, sexual assualt of adults and minors, child neglect. etc. It's a great book but please be careful <3

summerb's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child abuse, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Blood, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Alcohol, Bullying, Cancer, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, War, Bullying, Cancer, Infidelity, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Classism, Colonisation, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, Panic attacks/disorders, Genocide, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Police brutality

bookworm247's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Addiction, Blood, Violence, Car accident, Cursing, Drug use, Racism, Gun violence, Child death, and Grief

brycestevenwilley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

Really well written, tons of great ideas and through-threads. It can be a little slow at times, but each chapter does play an important in moving the story and its characters forward. 

Only downside is that it is extremely violent; it's definitely the intention, but it was a bit too much for me at times, if I wasn't reading as an audio book, I would have had to stop. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Drug use, Colonisation, Violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, and Genocide

Moderate: Suicide, Car accident, Grief, Cancer, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Bullying, Medical trauma, and Hate crime

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Racism, Kidnapping, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Cultural appropriation, Blood, Drug use, Grief, Colonisation, Death, and Genocide

Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Animal death, and Sexual assault

golderest's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Grief

Moderate: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Racism

Minor: Drug use, Torture, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

oyveyori's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.0

This was disappointing :// pretty predictable storyline and one-dimensional protagonist. There were a few beautiful scenes but it mostly read like fan fiction. It was interesting to learn more about Lakota culture tho!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, War, Torture, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual violence

Minor: Addiction, Miscarriage, and Incest

voxelbee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Child death, Addiction, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, and Torture

Minor: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Bullying, Car accident, and Genocide

caidyn's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Wow, what a read. This is a snippet of modern life on reservations with the incoming of drugs. It tackled racism and not being enough, whether Native or White. I really appreciated the addition of nonfiction books that I'll definitely be picking up in the future as further reading!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Domestic abuse

brookey8888's review

dark emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

This started off really strong, but then I lost interest with where the story went. I loved learning more about Indian customs and beliefs. I also thought it was great/important that the author talked about how the feds literally do nothing to help in cases and the drug problems. I just wish this focused more on his vigilante stuff. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence