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annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Several weeks after finishing this book, I still think about it.
The Strangers is a really powerful and emotional companion novel to The Break, following four women and their POVs of the The Stranger family: two sisters and their mother in modern day, and their Grandmother through her life.
The Storykeepers podcast covers the themes and discussion much better than I (and I highly recommend checking out that episode specifically and the podcast generally. But Vermette spends a lot of time developing and exploring themes of memory and family history (particularly on how traditions can be lost through time, trauma, and grief), addiction and the impact it has on the substance user and their loved ones, and insidious, ongoing effects of colonialism and racism on Indigenous communities - specifically Métis women. Men are acknowledged to have their own struggles but are really not the focus nor given much grace due to their role in perpetuating intersectional gender-based violence.
I adored the characters and felt so strongly for their situations. I was rooting for each and every one of them, even when they let themselves down or others disappointed them. Margaret in particular reminded me of a lot of women of that era, including my own family members. Constrained by societal roles and expectations, poverty, and choices partially outside of their control, and embittered by those experiences. Elsie, to me, would have been someone much stronger if she'd grown up in a different situation - and I felt my heart breaking every time she relapsed, even though I was also frequently frustrated by her decisions and behaviour. Phoenix broke my heart from the first pages. Having been introduced to her in The Break, I knew what she was capable of, but she was failed by people from the start and was never given the chance to heal (except by Ben, who tried his hardest to share teachings/medicine with her). I think her story's resolution was the hardest to bear because she couldn't let go of the anger that had festered in her from her trauma. Cedar Sage, I think, represented the hope of the future. Given a name (and names mean a lot in this story) was that indicative of her heritage, and eventually reunited with her father (and her Native-obsessed white stepmother) in her teen years, she demonstrates the possibility of healing from intergenerational trauma and poverty, and breaking the cycle. And that last scene where she meets a character from The Break was *so* well done.
You don't have to have read The Break necessarily, but I highly recommend it because it gives a lot of context to this story and some of the characters' histories. Plus it's just damn good.
Overall, a fantastic, unflinching, and beautifully written novel.
CW: references to rape and sexual assault and molestation, substance use and addiction, abortion, pregnancy complications and traumatic births, prison system, violence, intergenerational trauma and grief, foster system, depression and PTSD, racism and colonialism.
The Strangers is a really powerful and emotional companion novel to The Break, following four women and their POVs of the The Stranger family: two sisters and their mother in modern day, and their Grandmother through her life.
The Storykeepers podcast covers the themes and discussion much better than I (and I highly recommend checking out that episode specifically and the podcast generally. But Vermette spends a lot of time developing and exploring themes of memory and family history (particularly on how traditions can be lost through time, trauma, and grief), addiction and the impact it has on the substance user and their loved ones, and insidious, ongoing effects of colonialism and racism on Indigenous communities - specifically Métis women. Men are acknowledged to have their own struggles but are really not the focus nor given much grace due to their role in perpetuating intersectional gender-based violence.
I adored the characters and felt so strongly for their situations. I was rooting for each and every one of them, even when they let themselves down or others disappointed them. Margaret in particular reminded me of a lot of women of that era, including my own family members. Constrained by societal roles and expectations, poverty, and choices partially outside of their control, and embittered by those experiences. Elsie, to me, would have been someone much stronger if she'd grown up in a different situation - and I felt my heart breaking every time she relapsed, even though I was also frequently frustrated by her decisions and behaviour. Phoenix broke my heart from the first pages. Having been introduced to her in The Break, I knew what she was capable of, but she was failed by people from the start and was never given the chance to heal (except by Ben, who tried his hardest to share teachings/medicine with her). I think her story's resolution was the hardest to bear because she couldn't let go of the anger that had festered in her from her trauma. Cedar Sage, I think, represented the hope of the future. Given a name (and names mean a lot in this story) was that indicative of her heritage, and eventually reunited with her father (and her Native-obsessed white stepmother) in her teen years, she demonstrates the possibility of healing from intergenerational trauma and poverty, and breaking the cycle. And that last scene where she meets a character from The Break was *so* well done.
You don't have to have read The Break necessarily, but I highly recommend it because it gives a lot of context to this story and some of the characters' histories. Plus it's just damn good.
Overall, a fantastic, unflinching, and beautifully written novel.
CW: references to rape and sexual assault and molestation, substance use and addiction, abortion, pregnancy complications and traumatic births, prison system, violence, intergenerational trauma and grief, foster system, depression and PTSD, racism and colonialism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, Physical abuse, Violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug use, and Fatphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
sarah984's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was a little bit hesitant going into this one because I was worried it might turn into a sort of "redemption arc" for Phoenix where she's suddenly not at fault anymore for the part she played in the events of The Break. I really enjoyed it, though.
At its heart, this is a book about mothers and daughters, and the way people try (and sometimes fail) to connect. The characters all have unique voices (though I don't get why some were first person and some were third person) and perspectives. It was interesting to read about the same events from the wildly differing points of view of two characters who were both there. There were a few parts that felt kind of like they were included to check off a list (one character’s abortion felt a little "okay I haven't included this experience yet" for me).
At its heart, this is a book about mothers and daughters, and the way people try (and sometimes fail) to connect. The characters all have unique voices (though I don't get why some were first person and some were third person) and perspectives. It was interesting to read about the same events from the wildly differing points of view of two characters who were both there. There were a few parts that felt kind of like they were included to check off a list (one character’s abortion felt a little "okay I haven't included this experience yet" for me).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Physical abuse
Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Vomit
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