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amberinpieces'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
3.75
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Rape, Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal death, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Racism, and Vomit
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Medical content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Abortion, Rape, Stalking, Sexual content, and Drug abuse
Minor: Racial slurs, Murder, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Blood, Alcohol, Self harm, Police brutality, Mental illness, Genocide, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Vomit, Excrement, Drug use, Ableism, and Colonisation
Residential schools, stolen children, forced sterilization.sophiewonders'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
As an asexual Canadian teenager this book meant the world to me (The main character is demisexual living in Saskatchewan). It talked about love, sex, race, and family in a way I've never seen before. This book was emotional in a slow, warm way, and the author poured so much love into the pages it shines through clearly. It's the perfect summer read, with long muggy days and delicious ice cream. Lou's journey is about accepting herself and her culture, and the relationships with the people around her- but it' so much more than that. This is a story that will stick with me.
Graphic: Stalking and Racism
Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol
szucker6'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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Death of parent, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Addiction, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion, Vomit, Biphobia, Chronic illness, and Infidelity
the_vegan_bookworm'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
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racism, Sexual violence, Stalking, Alcohol, Sexism, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape
Minor: Abortion
paperbackparker'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
3.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Abortion, Alcohol, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, and Sexual harassment
spinesinaline's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Violence, Racism, Rape, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
kindredbooks'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
There is a lot of trauma within these pages of The Summer of Bitter and Sweet - something that even the author notes from the start of the book - to allow readers to make the choice of whether or not to pick up the book. And within all the trauma is also a story about family, strength, resilience, and surviving against all odds in a system that is designed to keep you down. We enter the story as Lou is entering a summer of transition - her mother is going to travel this summer, she's got a boyfriend who is pressuring her into things that she doesn't enjoy, and her white biological father is out of prison and is reaching out. This is a story about a Métis girl who is still trying to figure out who she is, caught as she is between identities and the pressures of wanting to blend in and fit in. The story truly is one that is bitter and sweet - the reality and trauma behind Lou's story and the hope that endures that the world and its people can be changed for the better when we are able to find the right people around us to face and fight the injustices.
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
avabudavari'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
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, and Murder
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
NOTE: I cannot speak to the representation in this book. Please read reviews from Indigenous and/or Indigenous reviewers in the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
I have been trying to put my thoughts together since finishing this novel. I had thought the premise sounded so interesting, and when I heard that it was an Indigenous LGBTQIA+ novel set in Canada, I was sold. I absolutely loved getting to hear Jen Ferguson speak at an HCC Frenzy event as well.
There were a few things I really liked about the book:
- The exploration of friendship, and how different friendships can look or function differently. Some are easy to continue or go back to, while others take a lot of work. And just the dynamics of friend groups, one-to-one friendships, and how they change over time. I like that the friendships were just as important as family in the novel.
- The family relationships. They aren't perfect, they are more realistic than most novels make them seem. Families argue, struggle, but stay close and important.
- The depictions of racism, especially anti-Indigenous racism, was dealt with well in the novel. There were the difficult pieces, the difficult conversations, people coming together to support, falling apart because of it, and the persistence of it in a small community. So many people think that racism isn't something that happens in Canada, but it is. And to see it in a novel is a reminder that it is as big of an issue here as it is in other places.
- I absolutely loved all of the Canadian references, terms, places. Mentions of Timmies, bunnyhugs, the Royal Tyrrell Museum - all of it! There are so rarely books set in Canada, and I am always so excited when I find ones that talk about places I know, things I recognize immediately. Ordering a double double and vanilla dip at Timmies? Hells yes. My Canadian heart is happy haha.
The two pieces that I struggled with, though, were very large and integral parts to the story - I think that's why I couldn't rate this any higher. It made my enjoyment dampen a bit.
There is so much lying, deceit, anger, secrets. While teenagers have secrets, and I could never speak to the issues and difficulties that Lou has faced, I really struggled with the lies and secrets. They were so prevalent and big, they overtook the story in a way. I understand that part of it was the fallout of keeping secrets, but it seemed like that was thrown out multiple times in the story before things started to get better. And the biggest fallout about secrets happened before this book even takes place, something we are only given hints to.
The bigger one that I struggled with though was the acephobia. It was really hard to read, since it was both internalized and external. I understand that is common and acephobia is so prevalent in today's world, but it was really hard to read it. It's not even discussed in more detail until the very very end of the novel. I wish it had been discussed sooner because it felt almost like a "convenient" wrap-up - and I hate saying that, but things were kind of quickly discussed and worked through VERY quickly at the end, after being a major issue through the whole book.
I think I was just definitely not the audience for this book. And that's okay. I did take a lot away from reading it, but there are others who this book might be better for.
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia and Racism
Moderate: Blood, Hate crime, Abandonment, Alcohol, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Rape
Minor: Abortion, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
MMIWG, the rape and murder are discussed but happened off page