Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

11 reviews

minervacerridwen's review

adventurous mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I've been wanting to read Elatsoe since it came out in 2020 (a couple of weeks before my own ace book!), and now I finally got around to it thanks to my book club. Even after anticipating the read for so long, it delivered. I really hope this will become a new children's classic, because there is so much in this story that I feel is of great value. The way the prejudice against the Lipan Apache people is touched upon, the way the 17-year-old main character is actually believed by the adults in her life when she tells them she is asexual. Those aren't big elements in this story at all, but they are remarkably well done. And then there's the mystery itself, which maintains its tension throughout and yet doesn't leave you hanging at any point because you're discovering just enough new information at just the right times. It reminded me of some of my favourite (Dutch-language) books of my childhood, but with an extra sparkle of magic and so much more soul. And then there's all the cute animals! The way stories are used to transfer important cultural knowledge! The beautiful illustrations by Rovina Cai that add an entire little story of their own to each chapter!
I'm definitely going to read the prequel too.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Violence, and Alcohol

maecave15's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

raptorq's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Hate crime and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Racism, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

kfmcf's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

This is more magical realism than fantasy - which is absolutely fine, but for folks going into this expecting pure fantasy, they may feel a bit unsatisfied. 

Elatsoe is a great POV character. She's spunky and funny and caring and her relationship with her family is entertaining and charming. She was absolutely my favorite part of the book along with the descriptions of her magic and the world around her. 

Her world is the same as ours but with magic and magic-folk being known entities. I think I was hoping for a little bit more magic and less murder mystery, but that's from going in mostly blind. I think the mystery itself was still handled-well, there were some twists and turns without it being a shock or jump scare

(you know who it is from pretty early on along with Elatsoe's suspicions. But the reveal of the Doctor's secret was interesting without it being a major twist. Not even mystery needs to be mind blowing, just believable and fascinating) 

There were a few pacing issues where I think things could have moved with a bit more agency, and maybe a few questions that never really got answered, but the last half of the book was quite speedy. I hope to see more from this author and more works of fiction from indigenous authors!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Classism

wickedgrumpy's review

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

The magical realism involving ghosts lent a dreamy quality to this book.  I’d love to read more about this world.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

throwback682's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

A murder mystery + ghosts and wizards, with a Lipan Apache protagonist who is canon asexual (and I suspect aromantic) and a boy cheerleader sidekick who is shown having both a(n ex) girlfriend, and a YouTube channel where he teaches tumbling and dance moves. 

There are also passing references to other queer characters that feel normalizing, not tokenizing.

(One of the characters, whose life has been irreparably altered, ends the book by moving in with friends - a married couple of women.)

The first half of the book is much slower, the second half is much more action packed. If you’re struggling with the slower start, I’d encourage you to hang in there. 

This book blends together a little bit of everything.

The good guys: an indigenous girl with a strong talent for ancestral magic, a fae boy who travels through fairy rings and his psychic aunt, a vampire who is disliked by his future in-laws, a ghost dog, and a ghost mammoth, among others. The bad guys? A rich “miracle working” doctor (actually an evil wizard), an indigenous vampire, colonizers, and… Teddy Roosevelt?! I love it.

 

I could tell that J had a crush on Ellie the entire book, and she was oblivious. I kept waiting for that to be a plot point, that he was going to confess his love to her despite knowing she’s asexual (and probably aromantic?).   But he never did!! It was so refreshing.

I feel like I could ramble on about this book forever. It has so much good stuff about it and it was exciting and enjoyable. I would especially recommend for young girls (who are old enough for monsters and violence). Ellie is a great role model. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Cancer, Sexual violence, and Terminal illness

jjjreads's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious sad 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Racism, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

galexy_brain's review

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Loved reading a book with an indigenous protagonist! The story itself was entertaining and the main characters felt like teenagers (i.e. making not-well-thought-through teenage decisions). The writing was a bit bland at times and some metaphors felt a bit too overt, but it didn't bother me too much. 

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Genocide, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Missing persons. Insects. Near-drowning. Mild unreality (time/space distortion).

bookwormbi's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.5

slow start but definitely worth it in the end!!!

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Racism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Death of parent and Acephobia/Arophobia