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avisreadsandreads'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, and Pandemic/Epidemic
rideauriverreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation
egcam's review
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Cultural appropriation
lillypowell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Colonisation and Pandemic/Epidemic
tlaynejones's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Colonisation
emilily'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
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation
dnlrbchd's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Colonisation
annemaries_shelves'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
5.0
The Strangers is a really powerful and emotional companion novel to The Break, following four women and their POVs of the The Stranger family: two sisters and their mother in modern day, and their Grandmother through her life.
The Storykeepers podcast covers the themes and discussion much better than I (and I highly recommend checking out that episode specifically and the podcast generally. But Vermette spends a lot of time developing and exploring themes of memory and family history (particularly on how traditions can be lost through time, trauma, and grief), addiction and the impact it has on the substance user and their loved ones, and insidious, ongoing effects of colonialism and racism on Indigenous communities - specifically Métis women. Men are acknowledged to have their own struggles but are really not the focus nor given much grace due to their role in perpetuating intersectional gender-based violence.
I adored the characters and felt so strongly for their situations. I was rooting for each and every one of them, even when they let themselves down or others disappointed them. Margaret in particular reminded me of a lot of women of that era, including my own family members. Constrained by societal roles and expectations, poverty, and choices partially outside of their control, and embittered by those experiences. Elsie, to me, would have been someone much stronger if she'd grown up in a different situation - and I felt my heart breaking every time she relapsed, even though I was also frequently frustrated by her decisions and behaviour. Phoenix broke my heart from the first pages. Having been introduced to her in The Break, I knew what she was capable of, but she was failed by people from the start and was never given the chance to heal (except by Ben, who tried his hardest to share teachings/medicine with her). I think her story's resolution was the hardest to bear because she couldn't let go of the anger that had festered in her from her trauma. Cedar Sage, I think, represented the hope of the future. Given a name (and names mean a lot in this story) was that indicative of her heritage, and eventually reunited with her father (and her Native-obsessed white stepmother) in her teen years, she demonstrates the possibility of healing from intergenerational trauma and poverty, and breaking the cycle. And that last scene where she meets a character from The Break was *so* well done.
You don't have to have read The Break necessarily, but I highly recommend it because it gives a lot of context to this story and some of the characters' histories. Plus it's just damn good.
Overall, a fantastic, unflinching, and beautifully written novel.
CW: references to rape and sexual assault and molestation, substance use and addiction, abortion, pregnancy complications and traumatic births, prison system, violence, intergenerational trauma and grief, foster system, depression and PTSD, racism and colonialism.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, and Fatphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
safsaf118'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
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexual assault
sarah984's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
At its heart, this is a book about mothers and daughters, and the way people try (and sometimes fail) to connect. The characters all have unique voices (though I don't get why some were first person and some were third person) and perspectives. It was interesting to read about the same events from the wildly differing points of view of two characters who were both there. There were a few parts that felt kind of like they were included to check off a list (one character’s abortion felt a little "okay I haven't included this experience yet" for me).
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual violence, Vomit, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail