Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Sentence

Another addition to my 5 star reads! Louise Erdrich deserves all the accolades she’s received and more for her writing.

This story hit close to home. As it takes place throughout the beginning of the pandemic and George Floyd protests, I truly felt the confusion and terror the characters experienced. I felt comforted, too, not only by their reactions but their conclusions about the world they live in. I fell in love with the characters, especially Tookie, our protagonist. She’s sarcastic, pessimistic, and scared. She also is loyal, self-aware, and brave. Erdrich brought this character to life and gave her such a well-rounded story I truly felt as if I was reading a memoir.

My only complaint- and it is minor- is the random perspective changes to include Hetta and Pollux. While they were interesting, I didn’t feel they added much to the novel and messed a little bit with the pacing of Tookie’s story. Overall, though, this did not change my opinion about how much I loved this book and am proud to display it on my 5 star shelf.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the “human condition” and spirituality in general. There is a wonderful mix of superstition and science that doesn’t discredit the other, rather it embraces that confusing gray area where they both exist. It is also Native American literature, which I am always thrilled to read and learn more about. Overall, for anyone interested in American Lit I consider this a must-read.

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shoshin's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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 my first Erdrich book, and I regret that it took me so long to get to her despite all of the good things I have heard.

I picked the book as part of a reading challenge, to read a book set on my favorite city. I didn't realize that it was partially set during COVID and the uprising. Hearing about the loss of life and the loss of places I love is still a punch in the gut. I should have realized but somehow still wasn't ready when it came.

I listened to the audiobook, and I could listen to Erdrich all day. Amazing.

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mariebrunelm's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-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

An Indigenous bookshop ghost story, what more could you ask for?

In The Sentence, Louise Erdrich weaves the ordinary (as mundane or heart-wrenching as it can be) and the supernatural to create a rich tapestry of contemporary life as an Indigenous person in the USA, with a strong emphasis on community and a balance between darkness and light.

Tookie is a very grounded person, an ex-convict now working in a bookshop owned by… a certain Louise. They have their regulars, each one with their habits and particular tastes in books. One of them, Flora, dies at the beginning of the story, but she doesn’t seem ready to leave the bookshop.

Once the situation is set, the author sets out to detail the daily life of the bookshop and its daily haunting, through the eyes of a gruff but very endearing character, Tookie, who is very flawed but very loveable. I loved the balance of her prose that walked the line between prosaic and spiritual. In short chapters, she captured vivid scenes and interactions that made this book highly entertaining even though not a lot was happening. The touch of the supernatural was very welcome to add another dimension to the book. It was also very informational about Indigenous people living in Minneapolis and its surrounding area, without feeling like you were taught a lesson.

On the whole, this book felt very intentional, and forced me to slow down to savour every bite, which is very rare for me. I was in no rush to see what was happening next, and it brought me a lot of peace even though some parts were harrowing. I highly recommend this nuanced and multi-facetted book that holds a lot in a very readable format.

Rep: Indigenous characters, bi MC.

Content Warnings

jodie_dc's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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stephe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

The Sentence is beautifully, lovingly written, capturing the power that books and stories and memories have to reveal deep and painful truths—about ourselves, those around us, and our worlds. It also faithfully captures a moment in Minneapolis (and the world) in which deep pain and patterns of systemic abuse came bubbling up and out into the streets, all in the midst of the darkest times of the Quarantine Era. Having lived in Minneapolis during most of these events, it was hard to read at times. And yet, Tookie and the whole cast of characters brought so much life and depth and joy to the story that I finished it with hope that, together, we can reckon with that which haunts us and welcome healing into our lives.

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mouseyhare's review against another edition

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funny hopeful reflective 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

I don't know how to describe this book. Even though it took me 3 whole weeks to read, every time I picked it up it felt easy. Even though it's about COVID and George Floyd and people dying, it's still funny? It's weird. It's not a happy book but it's not sad either. I recommend it.

I am bad at adding content warnings because I'm not sure how to describe them or how graphic they are but I tried to cover the ones I remembered. There is a pretty detailed description of the main character smuggling a dead body and her incarceration afterwards which I don't think is an option to mark in Storygraph. Oy.

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meemzala's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring 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

5.0

This book made me laugh and cry. Tookie is so lovable and so complicated. This book has some of my favorite qualities of Louise Erdrich’s work: magical realism, intense relationships between women, nonfiction elements illuminating the history and current state of Native American affairs, and complicated LOVE. And humor!

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