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useyourgoodeye's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ngb1980's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Racism and Violence
bseigel's review
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
emily_high's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Violence
amandalorianxo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Body horror, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Death and Blood
sarahaf712's review
3.0
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Torture
e_flah's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
After reading about a 100 pages, I looked up the author in the hopes that knowing the perspective the book was written from could clarify some of the issues I was beginning to have with the story. As someone who shares the same background as the author -- white and a women -- I'm hesitant to say that certain people shouldn't write certain stories as it's really not my position to weigh in on that. I did notice repeatedly throughout the book that race and racism were positioned in ways that indicated a surface-level acknowledgement of racism but an unwillingness to really interrogate the roles that systemic racism plays in all of our lives. Failing to do the deeper work of unpacking systemic racism is something I notice white people, myself included at times, can be hesitant to do as it's impossible not to also grapple with how white people benefit from systemic racism even if they oppose it. The handling of racism in this book happened at a very surface level, which did the story it was trying to tell a true disservice.
A key example of this involves the main character of the 1920s narrative, Will.
The characterization of the side characters who are people of color was incredibly flat. It was very clear to me that these characters were tokens for the story, rather than real people. Characters who appear a lot on the page, like Ruby, are defined by one or two attributes -- Ruby likes to cause trouble and enjoys pinching boys she likes -- that are just an outline of a personality but not a fully-fleshed character. An instance of this that made me particularly irate was the character of Arvind, a Black man who is implied to be unhoused, that Rowan meets at her job at the clinic. Arvind doesn't get much page time and is only given the briefest outline as a character but (view spoiler) Arvind is perhaps the defining example in Dreamland Burning of how the author used people of color within the story as tokens rather than portraying them as real people.
I also had some serious issues with the racial slurs used in this novel. The author's note says
"Some characters in the book use derogatory terms for African Americans and Native Americans, though not as freely as they would have in 1921. These words are ugly, offensive, and hateful, but I chose to include them because I felt that blunting the sharp edges of racism in a book about genocide would be a mistake."
There were certainly more issues in Dreamland Burning that I didn't touch on here. I'll definitely be searching out other critical reviews of this book that look at this concepts with more depth. Overall, I would definitely not recommend reading this novel.
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Violence and Car accident
knifewifestan's review
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Car accident
moonlit_paperbacks's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
sallysimply's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a great read if you want to learn more about Tulsa and get a feel for the history and culture. It’s also just a solidly told story, one that uses the shifting POVs really well. I was equally invested in both timelines, which was quite a feat considering how much I hated William right from the start. I also appreciated the author’s note at the end.
The ending felt rushed. I wanted a bit more resolution to Rowan’s story, for sure. But overall, I really enjoyed this.
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, and Violence
While there is no explicit police brutality, there is police harassment. There is also some ableist language, though not direct ableism.