Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

10 reviews

sadhbhprice's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Drug abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Pregnancy

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

greenan26's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death and Police brutality

jennieliv's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.25

Took a while to get into but loved the way it ended 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

spookily's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Pregnancy

prettycloud's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

4.75

This book feels like the pandemic: just when you think you've found the rhythms of normal life, you feel the uncertainty as threads come loose bit by bit until the whole thing unravels. It's a powerful look at the way that unraveling gave people in the US a new understanding of our own complacency, caused people to question the facts of life we'd come to accept. The energy that flowed into anti-racism work in that summer of 2020 feels vibrant and real in this book without being too trite. And it does not shy away from the nuances of systemic and interpersonal racism!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Racism, Colonisation, and War

This book addresses the horrors of colonialism and historic wrongs, but it doesn't twist the knife or delight in violence. The characters in the present experience common experiences during the first year of COVID, from generalized pandemic anxiety to

police violence and hospitalization from the virus

. The main character had previously endured police and other violence during her incarceration, which she describes in the beginning of the book and which forms part of a later conflict. No one in the present tense of the book abuses drugs or alcohol, but the main character's mom was an addict and neglected her, and she does describe this.

biblioghoul's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Police brutality, Medical content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Animal death, Grief, and Death of parent

edie_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2/3 <3

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

teresareads's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Genocide

futurama's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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? Yes

3.5

Wow. There is A Lot in this book. I was surprised I enjoyed it. I'm not normally a fan of multiple plot lines and characters. But Erdich spends intimate time with each character. Nothing felt out of place. It's slow and not necessarily engaging but I enjoyed spending time with Tookie, even though I didn't understand why she was the main character (wasn't sure of what she wanted in the story). So much happens in the first half that the

second half, which takes place in 2020, overwhelms the story. It makes me wonder if Erdich was writing this novel and decided to add the pandemic/BLM protests last minute. The addition of the actions in May 2020 do make sense, the novel takes place at the epicenter of the protests. But I do think the story can function the same without the modern timeline.

I love the tongue-in-cheek humor sprinkled throughout the book. Erdich fictionalizes her bookstore and a fictional version of herself pops in from time to time. Erdich's details and Tookie's observations leaned wry. Tookie's book recommendations were spot on and surprisingly present day, including 2020 (and 2021?) releases. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami was on there! Lily King's Euphoria is mentioned twice!

The Sentence is not a funny story but it is a human story. The book leaks all these human emotions: happiness, fulfillment, sadness, frustration, confusion. The Sentence has all the characteristics of a novel I would avoid: ensemble cast, too-current events, multiple plot lines, but it did blow me away. It's dense but not intense. Overall, I enjoyed spending time with Tookie. 

Major, major CW for Covid-19. I wish that was a content warning tag. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Pregnancy