Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

11 reviews

reads2cope's review against another edition

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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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audreyolejasz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

2.0

The main character is kunda of a pervert...

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se_palmer's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad medium-paced
  • 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? It's complicated

3.5

This is a rough story told beautifully. Without spoiling anything, this is the story of a violent crime and a community's response, specifically the response of a 13 year old boy. There are moments that are harrowing and heartbreaking, and there are moments of deep humor and joy, and the teenage perspective tends to walk the line between normal teenage weirdness and the truly awkward and upsetting. The story asks us to think about what justice means to victims, to their families and communities, and traditionally, and the answers it presents are sometimes challenging.
The story ends abruptly and without the normal feeling of resolution, so if that kind of thing makes you mad, consider yourself forewarned.

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tiffanykw's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0


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lorenag5's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.75


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readswithcocktails's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Not my favorite Erdrich, but still really good. I liked the voice of Joe as the narrator, although sometimes it was hard seeing things as an adult that he just couldn't piece together as a 13 year old kid (although that's probably evidence that it's well written). As other reviewers have said, this is much more a coming of age story and a story about how violence committed against one family member can affect every member of the family, rather than a mystery.

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katsbooks's review against another edition

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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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sammies_shelf's review

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adventurous dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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


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brennach's review

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emotional 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

5.0


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battybookworm's review

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

This was a book assigned for my American Lit class. It is probably my second favorite that we read this term. The first half is hard to read, it opens with an assault, so if that's triggering for you this is probably not a great book to read. Following Joe, the son of the woman assaulted, through these life events is something really powerful and there's so much to this book that I could never properly summarize. It has reinvigorated my wish to read everything of Erdrich's cause I get to the end of her novels and am instantly wondering why there aren't a hundred more pages to get through: I just can't get enough of her words and her characters! There's so much to feel and so many people to love in this novel!

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