Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

11 reviews

aksmith92's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

The Setup: This Tender Land is a beautifully crafted historical novel set during the Great Depression. It follows the journey of four orphans—Odie, his older brother Albert, their Native American friend Mose, and a young girl named Emmy. Fleeing the brutal conditions at the Lincoln Indian Training School in Minnesota, they embark on an epic journey down the Gilead River, seeking freedom and a place to call home.

The novel is rich in themes of resilience, friendship, and the search for identity amidst the backdrop of a troubled America. Krueger masterfully captures the era's social injustices, particularly the harsh realities faced by orphans and Native American children. As the children encounter kindness and cruelty along their journey, they learn profound lessons about trust, love, and the human spirit.

The story is not just about the physical journey but also explores moral choices, the complexities of faith, and the enduring power of hope. Through Odie's narration, readers are immersed in a poignant tale that skillfully balances adventure with deep emotional and spiritual growth, even for a barely thirteen-year-old!

What I Loved: This story was compelling. It was filled with vivid characters and an evocative portrayal of the American Midwest during one of its most challenging periods. All the characters were original and unique and provided interesting perspectives in the novel, even if you didn't necessarily like them. Anyone reading this story would likely be hesitant to put it down. Kent Krueger is a storyteller, and for that, I am so grateful. I loved exploring faith, love, and hope and how each person battles with that exploration and journey. I loved the tie to family and what family means. I also loved the characters and felt attached to them as they worked their way down the Gilead River to a better future. It was a complex and complicated read - this is slightly historical in the early 1930s - times were insensitive, and this novel had some challenging topics. But I was immersed and loved it.

Why Not 5 Stars? I was close to rating this five stars, but unfortunately, it just fell slightly through the cracks at the end. While I absolutely adored this novel, the ending felt rushed. Kent Krueger was trying to tie everything into a neat bow, and while I do think he did that successfully, it was all somewhat thrown at you in the end.

I must say, though, that I did like the official ending. There was a bit of a plot twist I didn't see coming. So, even if it was slightly rushed and thrown together, I did enjoy it nonetheless.

Overall, This Tender Land will stay with me for a while. It's a beautiful story with even a dose of magic (maybe!). I would highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

born_reading's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative sad fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

themdash's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

thepurpleseal's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Antisemitism and Abandonment

aimless's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

readbycarina's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent

bookishmaryrose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Masterful storytelling. Beautiful concepts. My biggest critique is the harmful trope that people are “better off dead” than disabled. Really? That’s so harmful and so avoidable in an otherwise gripping, thoughtful, artful story. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

semeyers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

 Overall, I loved this book. The descriptions of the landscapes and the characters throughout the book were amazing and worked to really put you in the scene. Not only did I come to love all of the Vagabonds individually, I also grew attached to all of the characters they met and built relationships.

My main gripe with the book is how incredibly rushed the ending was. It was getting closer and closer to the end and I was getting worried because almost nothing had been resolved. Then, suddenly in only a handful of pages, everything is wrapped up with a bow. It was kind of shocking and I found myself reading one of the last chapters over again a few times before I could process the amount of information that was thrown at the reader. I found this lessened the impact of the book quite a bit. I wish 50 pages or so had been cut from the middle and added to the end, giving the author more time to really flesh it out and keep the same tone and pacing that the rest of the book had.

I did still genuinely enjoy this book! It was a book club pick and it was a great book for that - it includes many topics and is sure to spark some conversation and discussion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Moderate: Racism, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, and Sexual assault

emorine13's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Heartwarming story of a group of friends and the adventure they go on together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Torture, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

sjanke2's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail