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paperbackportals's Reviews (698)
The story kept me guessing, which is great, but the lack of even a bit of closure in all mysteries at the end was a bit bothersome. However, the dual story lines and use of various forms of evidence was really neat and kept my focus throughout. Additionally, the narration was well done. At first, Stevie is a bit difficult to relate to due to her intense literal approach but by the middle of the book, I connected better with her and even had a few chuckles with how she approached some situations. I highly recommend for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder or the Charlotte Holmes series.
The cliffhanger! Great story. Kept me guessing. I need the next one!
A lovely story about community and second chances.
This was an entertaining read and I thought the descriptions of diving, sailing, and water were great. Fable is an interesting character and I always love reading about a band of misfits who come together to do something big. Looking forward to reading the sequel to see how the story continues.
This was a beautiful WWII historical fiction that mixes the triumph of spirit during a challenging time period and magical realism through the comfort and hope provided through deities and their stories.
Review: A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
“The thesis behind my project was that people turned into musical instruments when encouraged to testify about the conditions of their lives.”
A Minor Chorus was a raw introspection of the struggle for love, identity, and meaning in one’s story when it often feels written by someone else - in this case, the colonial and systemically racist structure of Canada.
The story delves into the life of the narrator struggling to write their Ph.D thesis. The unnamed narrator realizes that they may, instead, want to write a novel as an exploration toward reconnection and identity in his home reserve by listening to and echoing the generational grief and trauma of its residents.
The narrator is difficult to follow at first. Their thoughts are disjointed and unorganized, but as the story progresses, clarity and focus are gradually achieved through revisiting his past, the broken past of the Cree experience in Northern Alberta, as well as some glimpses of hope.
I felt the story had a lot of depth and the more poetic portions reminded me a bit of “The Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman through a queer Indigenous lens. I’ll be honest, this is not a light read, but a story with depth and nuance. Even now, I’m still thinking about the narrative and how it all works together to express the importance of stories and how expressing and sharing them is a step toward healing, and, personally, that listening, recognizing, and uplifting Indigenous voices is a step toward reconciliation.
Publication date: September 13, 2022
Thank you @penguinrandomca for the opportunity to review this novel.
Content Warnings: racism, homophobia, abuse, sexual expression.
“The thesis behind my project was that people turned into musical instruments when encouraged to testify about the conditions of their lives.”
A Minor Chorus was a raw introspection of the struggle for love, identity, and meaning in one’s story when it often feels written by someone else - in this case, the colonial and systemically racist structure of Canada.
The story delves into the life of the narrator struggling to write their Ph.D thesis. The unnamed narrator realizes that they may, instead, want to write a novel as an exploration toward reconnection and identity in his home reserve by listening to and echoing the generational grief and trauma of its residents.
The narrator is difficult to follow at first. Their thoughts are disjointed and unorganized, but as the story progresses, clarity and focus are gradually achieved through revisiting his past, the broken past of the Cree experience in Northern Alberta, as well as some glimpses of hope.
I felt the story had a lot of depth and the more poetic portions reminded me a bit of “The Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman through a queer Indigenous lens. I’ll be honest, this is not a light read, but a story with depth and nuance. Even now, I’m still thinking about the narrative and how it all works together to express the importance of stories and how expressing and sharing them is a step toward healing, and, personally, that listening, recognizing, and uplifting Indigenous voices is a step toward reconciliation.
Publication date: September 13, 2022
Thank you @penguinrandomca for the opportunity to review this novel.
Content Warnings: racism, homophobia, abuse, sexual expression.
Richard Wagamese was a brilliant writer and his descriptions are so beautiful. Medicine Walk is a heart wrenching story of healing and the imagery of the woods was evocative and wondrous.
Well-written treatise for Indigenous equality by overviewing the deaths of 7 Indigenous teens in Thunder Bay. Startling facts are intertwined with emotional recollections in a way that makes this nonfiction just as much a story of the teens, families, and communities as a report of primary sources. If you don’t know much about the Indigenous experience in Canada, I recommend reading this carefully curated recollection of history and current issues for Indigenous people in Canada overviewing the racism, underfunding, and often neglect of their human rights.
The Back of the Turtle is Thomas King in fine form. Lovable, quirky characters. Twisty plot. Intriguing connections. Hard-hitting truths. A little magic realism. And a whole lot of questions. I’m going to be thinking about this one for a while.