Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

6 reviews

reads2cope's review against another edition

4.5

“That old buffalo woman gave Nanapush her views. She told him that he had survived by doing the opposite of all the others. Where they abandoned, he saved. Where they were cruel, he was kind. Where they betrayed, he was faithful. Nanapush then decided that in all things he would be unpredictable. As he had completely lost trust in authority, he decided to stay away from others and to think for himself, even to do the most ridiculous things that occurred to him.”

This book wasn’t what I expected, and as someone who doesn’t typically reach for mystery novels (thank you to the Paperbacks & Frybread Decolonize Your Bookshelf Challenge for taking me here!) I’m so glad I picked it up. It was very uncomfortable to be in the mind of a 13 year old boy, but at the same time I am still reeling from the amount of growth readers get not only from the main character but from the complex web of community he is surrounded by. This is a book that will stick with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism and Infidelity

library_anne's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Murder

bangishimokwe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Colonisation

voidflowers's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

katsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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? Yes

4.5

“Now that I knew fear, I also knew it was not permanent. As powerful as it was, its grip on me would loosen. It would pass.”

“We are never so poor that we cannot bless another human being, are we? So it is that every evil, whether moral or material, results in good. You'll see.”

This was a very intense read. Definitely check trigger warnings for this book. It started a little slow for me but really picked up as it went. Generally, I like to listen to general fiction because I find it doesn't hold my attention the way romance, fantasy or thrillers. That's how I started this novel but found it fairly easy to finish it physically. My main complaint is that I didn't like that there weren't any quotation marks. I get that it's a literature choice but I don't really get it. Other than that, there wasn't a whole lot that I didn't like about this book. My favorite aspect was probably the perspective. It was so effective to make the main character's perspective that of a 13-year-old boy. It took all of the serious, intense themes and filtered them through the semi-innocent eyes of a pubescent boy. It genuinely made so much of the story more impactful. I also really appreciated the commentary on how Native Americans straddle the line between tribal soveriegnty and American jurisdiction, especially when it comes to things like rape cases or crime perpretrated by white people on reservations. It was also really interesting to read a depiction of reservation life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

pogue's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization