Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius

6 reviews

haileyhardcover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

August 9th is World Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In anticipation and observance of the holiday, I’ve been spending some time learning about the Sámi people. The only indigenous people of Europe, the Sámi’s ancestral lands are in an area known as Sápmi, spanning the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and part of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. During my research, I stumbled upon this book.

Stolen tells the story of Elsa, a young Sámi girl who witnesses the poaching of a beloved reindeer, Nástegallu. This traumatizing event is only the beginning for Elsa, as she grows up and continues to witness against racism and xenophobia, unchecked mental health struggles in her community, climate change, and ever-present threat to their reindeer and, thereby, their very ways of life.

Strong TW for animal torture and death. At several points, I had to just put this book down and cry after reading some of the descriptions; but I still think they were important to include. Though technically fictional, Stolen is inspired by real events, and these are horrific experiences that Sámi   reindeer herders experience. 

There is more than just trauma in these pages, though. While portraying the very real struggles that the Sámi experience, Laestadius, a Sámi woman herself, also clearly wrote this as a love letter to her culture and community. We get wonderful glimpses into culture, food, clothing, tradition. Though my Swedish didn’t come in handy very often, I enjoyed learning some new Sámi vocab words as well!

If you’re looking to broaden your knowledge of other cultures, I highly recommend Stolen. Before I was even halfway through, I pre-ordered Laestadius’ next book, Punished, which is also inspired by the true events of Sámi children taken from their families to state-mandated “nomad schools” - Scandinavian versions of the residential schools that Native American children were forced into in the US and Canada. 

Netflix has adapted Stolen into a movie which was released in April of this year. I’ll be spending my afternoon watching the movie!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Dementia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

kirjakimalainen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

An incredible, well written and important book that manages to discuss both current and generational trauma that Sámi people face. The book feels like arctic winter and grief, the writing creates a vivid image of the environment, and very strongly conveys the mood.

The book is very informative on the current reality Sámi people face, and as a nordic person i'm glad i read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Sexism

kelsee28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

Moderate: Suicide

mpswans1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Torture, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexism and Dementia

itaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt

marionlundqvist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy