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paralizine's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.5
coldbuckwheatnoodles's review against another edition
it honestly just didn't draw me in, i got a bit bored, i like hearing these kind of stories but this was a bit too slow and loose for me
alice_alice_alice's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
tshere's review against another edition
5.0
Not sure what I think about memoirs written by early 30-somethings, but this is a beautifully-written, wide-ranging memoir about family, landscape, and loss...and essentially California.
beatniksafari's review against another edition
4.0
This memoir addresses the complex history of the Eastern Sierra Nevada region, along with the story of Atleework's family, whose strong ties unraveled after the death of her free-spirited mother. In incandescent prose, Atleework acknowledges the deep pain that scars the natural and the human landscape: the droughts, the wildfires, the slaughter of indigenous people, the merciless drain on water reserves that provided sustenance and protection for the land and its residents.
Beneath every story she tells, Atleework finds another: no simple narrative of villains and heroes, but a layering of beauty, greed, loss, and healing.
Beneath every story she tells, Atleework finds another: no simple narrative of villains and heroes, but a layering of beauty, greed, loss, and healing.
mizpurplest's review against another edition
4.0
Atleework's writing is lyrical and flowingly beautiful while telling a haunting story about loss and systematic genocide and destruction. The contrast between the writing and the history is dramatic, but her personal story, despite its own tragedy, is hopeful and inspiring, encouraging her reader's interest in this fascinating and disturbing narrative while gently, emotionally pushing for change. I came away feeling incredibly depressed about the harm done in the name of "progress" and against indigenous peoples, and simultaneously invested in learning more about the history this country has tried to suppress. If we can learn more about our history, perhaps we can choose differently for our future.