linneamb_02's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
3.5
bel_benincasa's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
janedoelish's review against another edition
5.0
Elegiac magical realism takes the readers into a world about to (virtually) end, telling a tale of a band of Blackfeet in 1870. It is a tale of loss, of inevitability, of facing insurmountable obstacles and knowing you won't be able to clear them. Welch engenders a deep understanding of his characters, and avoids painting the encroaching white settlers in terms of the starkest blacks, even while leaving no doubt whatsoever about the enormity of the crime taking place. Through him, readers begin to grasp how ordinary people can become complicit in atrocity just by being part of a faceless system regarded as "the way things are". We should take careful note, for this sort of mechanism is still at work.
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
abbydee's review against another edition
After a few of his books, I’ve got a bead on James Welch at this point–his misfit men who have trouble understanding why they feel so unsettled with living. I don’t enjoy the novels much but I keep coming back for his descriptions, for unexpected moments that bring the cold and clarity of the northern plains straight into your mind. And I have a soft spot for befuddled misfits too. But something about a setting in pre-colonial North America can make people forget everything they know about writing. This one starts out with so much exposition, such strange speech and behavior between people who know each other, that I was filled with dismay at the prospect of the next three hundred pages.
But Welch remembers how to write in the next three hundred pages, and there is plenty of the detail–textures and temperatures, complex and mysterious emotions, tics and habits–that I was hoping for. With Welch, hope comes and goes as unpredictably as despair. Emotions are forces of change but are not always tied to something specific. There is an opacity to the psychology that can either be annoying or kind of appreciated, considering how many novels tend to spell things out. Historical fiction always has its oddities, but overall this is one I can get behind.
But Welch remembers how to write in the next three hundred pages, and there is plenty of the detail–textures and temperatures, complex and mysterious emotions, tics and habits–that I was hoping for. With Welch, hope comes and goes as unpredictably as despair. Emotions are forces of change but are not always tied to something specific. There is an opacity to the psychology that can either be annoying or kind of appreciated, considering how many novels tend to spell things out. Historical fiction always has its oddities, but overall this is one I can get behind.
booccmaster's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.5
caroline_slaughter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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? No
3.0
euryd1cejanjan27's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
It was fine, not for me, but it was very disturbing and terrible behaviors were normalized. I can’t believe this was a school assignment it is not at all appropriate
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Pedophilia, Incest, and Gore
davide's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
imillan09's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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? Yes
3.5
Depressing as fuck but really interesting