Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Varkaus by Ann-Helén Laestadius

13 reviews

corsetedfeminist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book reminds me of an Appalachian ballad: filled with love of the land and culture, family, purposefully ineffective police, murder, and grief. 
It details the coming of age of a Sami girl, beginning on the day she finds her reindeer butchered by a neighbor who is not a tribe member. The rest of the books shows her growing up, the changes in her family, and her ongoing battle to force the police to treat the slaughter of her tribe’s reindeer seriously. 
It begins with a deeply traumatized little girl, and ends with an even more traumatized, but brave and determined woman. I think Elsa is one of the most honest characters I’ve read in awhile, which comes with the author’s comfort with showing a story that doesn’t have a happy ending. The police never really come to care about the concerns of the Sami, climate change is affecting the village they live in, her family is deeply dysfunctional and everyone in her family has mental health issues, and the future of the reindeer herds is still up in the air… but there she stands, strong, proud, and tragic. 
This isn’t a story of overcoming trauma, it’s a story about how sometimes life is just messed up and we have to survive it. 
Beyond the raw beauty of the portrayal of Elsa and her family and friends, the racism and oppression of the Sami people is in stark contrast to the deeply loving portrayal of Sami culture in a way that makes the descriptions of oppression hit even harder, such as the scenes where Elsa’s grandmother’s dementia causes her to relive her days in boarding school. 
In short, this is a poignant story about Indigenous suffering and grief, but still balanced with strength and somehow not without hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

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

symmetra's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Sexism

geerbeer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Heftige omschrijvingen, maar wauw! Voor iemand die de cultuur niet kent is het ontzettend leerzaam en je voelt enorm mee met de personages en dieren in het boek. Elke keer was ik weer in 'awe' over hoe mensen toch prachtig in verbinding kunnen staan met de aarde, haar flora en fauna en al zo snel zien dat het klimaat naar de klote gaat. Ontzettend mooi!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

cariboukai's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Dementia, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

ellieswilliams's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, Medical content, Dementia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

ellenravioli's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Dementia, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying and Pregnancy

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

As important as it is gripping, this book sums up what it means to advocate for yourself, your culture, your mental health, and your own land without wallowing into sentimentality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, and Car accident

Be wary of police negligence, slander, school yard fights, property damage, adults threatening children, an attempt at a home invasion, funerals, and PTSD.

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