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serendipitysbooks'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
4.75
No matter how many times I read about it, the realities of the residential school system and the abuses perpetuated there never fail to sicken me. This book was no exception. The escape that hockey offered Saul and his exhilaration on the ice really shone through and captivated my attention, even though I have less than no interest in the game itself. The way racism impinged on that, robbed him of his love for the game, and stole his joy was heartbreaking and infuriating.
This book is a work of fiction. Yet it is filled with undeniable truths. It is beautifully and impactfully written, a painful yet important read, and one I highly recommend.
“When your innocence is stripped from you, when your people are denigrated, when the family that you came from is denounced and your tribal ways and rituals are pronounced backward, primitive, savage, you come to see yourself as less than human. That is hell on earth, that sense of unworthiness. That’s what they inflicted on us.”
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Murder
jennifer8632d's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Suicide
priyarai'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Cursing, Pedophilia, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol
offbrandclubsoda's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence
Minor: Genocide and Suicide
penguin6789'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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Racism, and Suicide
Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape
breezie_reads's review
- 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
I might not have been able to relate to living off the land and having your people stolen in the middle of the night and shipped off to God-knows-where, and I might not be able to relate to being targeted specifically because of your skin color and origins, but I understand what it's like to feel like, to be treated like, an outcast, like you don't belong. I understand what it feels like to have one thing that brings you relief from it all and to have it wrenched away from you. I understand what it feels like to watch others go through what the kids in the school went through, and I understand what it feels like to remember those same things happening to you.
I relate especially to finding comfort and escapism in books. Books to me are what hockey was to Saul and reading about his struggles with coming to terms with his past and remembering it hit home for me because I've felt the same way. It's a constant, uphill battle and this novel did an amazing job of capturing the emotions of that struggle, not only with addiction and recovering from your addiction, but with the struggle of isolation, whether self-imposed or otherwise, and with the struggle of remembering who you are and fighting to get that person back.
This was a work of art, and I'm definitely going to need some recovery time after reading this.
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Suicide
arana_discoteca'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
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Rape, and Religious bigotry
brenticus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What gets me with this story is that there's minimal drama presented as time goes on. Saul is examining his life through a journal as he goes through rehab, and there are many events that do or could change the course of his life but remain hidden or muted until later. The behaviour of his parents is pushed aside quickly as he focuses on the love of his grandmother; the abuses at the school are background noise while he learns about his love of hockey; the inaction of his foster parents is unaddressed because he just wants to do the best he can for his team. Saul doesn't really know what he's doing, and he doesn't have many people to lean on, and the people who understand what he's going through best don't know how to grapple with it themselves. It's a tragedy unfolding slowly and quietly over the course of his life.
I've read and heard similar stories many times, but something about Saul rings louder and truer than a lot of other tales. Saul and the people he interacts with and even the reader quietly ignore his traumas to focus on his hockey career, to see how high the young virtuoso can fly, but we can't. They're all seething under the surface, and when they boil over it's a gut punch as we realize what we've done. Maybe if more people had tried to help with his past instead of focusing on his hockey ability we wouldn't need to read this book.
All in all, this is probably the best work of Canadian literature I've ever read and I want to recommend it to just about everybody.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and Colonisation
norasbookcorner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, and Racism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
idrankian's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
Minor: Suicide