A review by awhipp17
Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen

challenging reflective medium-paced

5.0

she has a writing style and uses writing techniques that feel very much her own. at least a stamp on this book. she weaves the snippets of each essay so beautifully and even the essays in the book are arranged in such a way as to come full circle, to feel connected and woven together. after all, they are connected, she are all about her life, and her perspective, experiences and context are carried with her throughout her life as she encounters new. she shows us how people and experiences in her life affect her as their distance in time moves on, as her relationship with the people evolves. she shows us without panic or overdramatization what it is like to live through scary things. how she processes these things. how she carries these things. she isn't overly judgmental, she isn't trying to show herself in a good light or a bad light, she is reflecting and reporting the imperfectness of herself, of the moments, of what has happened to her. she is sort of out-of-body. she doesn't report too much on her emotions, or maybe she does but they somehow aren't meant to try to make me feel like i'm right there with her, but i am affected by her writing. i do feel emotions. she helps me to see the quilt, how its all connected. what a special kind of writing. her stories are entrancing. i feel like i trust her. i trust that the story will wrap up in a circular way. there is comfort in that, even if there is pain the story she told. they make me reflect too. showing so many facets to the issue of abuse, violence, guns, and Indigenous experiences. what a great book.