Reviews

The Grass Dancer by Susan Power

sittingwishingreading's review

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adventurous 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

5.0

msmagoo502's review

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funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-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

book_concierge's review

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4.0

Native American tales told in reverse chronological order. Lots of myth and mysticism. Very interesting. I enjoyed it very much. I think it might make for a good book-group discussion.

jukebugging's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

oisin175's review

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challenging reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A deep book that weaves magic into the mundane and looks at the difficulties of maintaining cultural continuity and community in the face of colonialism. I definitely need to read this again and give it a closer read. Not uplifting for the most part, but definitely worth while.

craftbuzz's review

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

thebooknerdscorner's review

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2.0

It pains me to say this, but I feel that 98% of this book flew right over my head. I really liked the beginning of this one, but the perspective jumped around so much that it was hard to keep track of who was who. The fact that all the characters were related didn't help me much. I genuinely enjoyed the parts about Pumpkin, Harley, Charlene, and Lydia, but pretty much the meaning of everything else alluded me.

Despite not knowing what was going on throughout most of this book, I could feel the pain that the women went through in this one. Anna, Red Dress, Lydia, and Charlene all go through so much pain, suffering, and heartbreak that my heart couldn't help but go out to them, even if I didn't really understand all of how they were connected.

Overall, I found parts of this book really interesting, some really boring, and others plain confusing. I can't even say that this one is a bad book, but I was just really lost while reading most of it. Despite this, I still felt for the characters and I found the powwow scenes at the beginning and end to be really enlightening. The elements of magical realism in this one are also neat.

ida_s's review against another edition

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5.0

An excellent and multi-layered novel with complex characters.

fairchayton's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

transcendantalism's review

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5.0

Powerful quotes, memorable characters, and good insight into Native American life.