Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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.

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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

gothnailcare's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

ggcd1981's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.0

Elatsoe foi uma boa leitura, apesar de que minhas expectativas eram muito altas o que afetou o meu aproveitamento da obra. Por nenhuma razão aparente cheguei nesse livro esperando que fosse voltado a faixa mais velha do YA/juvenil, e na verdade Elatsoe é mais voltado ao público mais jovem beirando o Infantil. Isso é claro não é um defeito, mas eu não sou o público alvo e isso afetou a minha experiência. Elatsoe ou Ellie, para abreviar, uma protagonista adolescente de 17 anos apache e assexual, vive em uma América alternativa contemporânea, cheia de monstros e mágica, moldada pela magia ancestral e pelo conhecimento de seus grupos indígenas e imigrantes. Para o povo Lipan Apache, o treinamento de fantasmas é uma tradição familiar de longa data. Ellie é capaz de “acordar” ou ressuscitar fantasmas do submundo. Ela trouxe de volta seu fiel cão Kirby e vários outros animais, mas tem o cuidado de observar a regra mais importante de acordar espíritos: nunca, jamais, acorde fantasmas humanos porque eles são altamente destrutivos e malignos. Quando seu querido primo morre, todos os sinais apontam para um acidente de carro, mas seu fantasma lhe diz o contrário: ele foi assassinado. Quem o matou e como ele morreu? Com a ajuda de sua família, de seu melhor amigo Jay, do leal Kirby e da grande, tatara, tatara, tatara, tatara, tataravó, Elatsoe, ela deve rastrear o assassino e desvendar o mistério desta cidade assustadora e seu passado sombrio. Mas os nefastos habitantes da cidade de Willowbee e um misterioso médico tentarão impedir.

O livro é menos misterioso do que soa pois desde a primeira metade do livro se sabe que quem realizou o assassinato foi o Doutor Abe Allerton. A segunda metade do livro é sobre como ele fez e como leva-lo a justiça quando a maior parte da cidade o protege. Uma coisa que não esperava nesse livro foi quão transparente Ellie era com seus pais sobre a investigação. Eu estava acostumada aos jovens nesse tipo de livros manterem segredos dos adultos então foi inesperado para mim. Infelizmente tenho que admitir que, apesar de saber que essa era a coisa certa a ser feita, essa transparência contribuiu para reduzir o clima de mistério.

 

Após suas investigações Ellie e Jay percebem que o Dr. Allerton tem a capacidade de transferir os ferimentos e doenças de uma pessoa para outra, e na noite da morte de Trevor, seu primo se deparou com o acidente em que o Doutor estava envolvido e tentou ajudar Allerton, mas em vez disso, o Dr. Allerton passou seus ferimentos fatais para Trevor e o deixou morrer. Na parte final do livro o fantasma de Trevor fica furioso e confronta Allerton em sua mansão durante uma grande festa. O doutor admite o que fez, mas não demonstra remorso por suas ações. Allerton e seus seguidores têm o poder de realocar a cidade de Willowbee sempre que seu segredo for revelado, e enquanto se preparam para realocá-la mais uma vez, Ellie os impede arrastando Allerton para o submundo e deixando-o lá. Kirby, porém, não volta do submundo com a garota. Ellie está em luto e acha que seu companheiro pode ter partido para sempre. No entanto, algumas semanas depois, na conclusão da obra, Kirby reaparece carregando um brinquedo incomum para cachorro. Ellie percebe que o brinquedo pertencia aos cachorros de sua tataravó, que também se chamava Elatsoe. O livro conclui com Ellie sentindo uma profunda conexão com seu ancestral e feliz por Kirby ter voltado para casa.

Elatsoe é um livro que considero bastante relevante a seu público alvo com mensagens relevantes, retratando relações familiares e amizades saudáveis com representação de uma protagonista indígena e assexual. O único ponto fraco que realmente posso apontar é que o mundo mostrado deu a impressão de ser amplo, mas não foi aprofundado pela autora. Então se tem uma diversidade de criaturas e elementos mágicos nesse mundo, mas nada foi realmente aprofundado me deixando sem realmente entender como essa realidade funciona. Fora esse ponto, acredito que os elementos que me levaram a não dar 5 estrelas a obra são mais de gosto pessoal do que defeitos da obra em si. Dou 4 estrelas.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Car accident, and Alcohol

cj13's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Grief

Moderate: Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Car accident, and Alcohol

vanesst's review

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Racism, Grief, Car accident, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Alcohol

nia_readsalot's review

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol

sunnydale's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative 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

4.5

I read this book exactly when I needed to. Grief is explored in a meaningful way, but is never gratuitous or burdensome, so I found it restorative as I processed the loss of a family member. The narrative voice is warm and inviting, and I felt genuine affection for the characters.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and War

Ellie has experienced racism, but she does not describe previous experiences in detail. Subjects like violence and danger are appropriate to a middle grade novel. Death and grief are discussed at length.

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

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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).

pastelkerstin's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Racial slurs

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Police corruption

emily_mh's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

This was such a delight to read!! It really reminded me of the game Night in the Woods. I adored the author’s writing style; the dialogue gave off a real arthouse film vibe which was really unique. But also, she effortlessly wove together so many strands of story and character, but all in the direction of telling a murder mystery?? Masterfully done!! The plot was also well-paced and held my attention throughout. Ellie was a wonderful main character: she was clever, determined, and thought outside the box, so it was really refreshing to read from her POV. Jay as a side character was so much fun, and the friendship between the him and Ellie was joyful. Finally, the illustrations in the chapter headings were absolutely gorgeous, and I loved how they ended up weaving in with Ellie’s storyline.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Major content warnings for death of a pet and loss of a loved one. Minor content warnings for drowning, climate change/global warming, drought, insects, mass murder, and divorce.