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Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

137 reviews

themichellegray's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was such a beautifully written story filled with so much Indigenous history!

Sadly, I didn't become as invested as I hoped to which impacted my overall enjoyment. I think this is a book I personally need to physically read at a slower pace to fully appreciate whereas I listed via audio rather quickly.

I definitely plan on picking this book up again when I'm in a different headspace to truly admire it!

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minervacerridwen's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I've been wanting to read Elatsoe since it came out in 2020 (a couple of weeks before my own ace book!), and now I finally got around to it thanks to my book club. Even after anticipating the read for so long, it delivered. I really hope this will become a new children's classic, because there is so much in this story that I feel is of great value. The way the prejudice against the Lipan Apache people is touched upon, the way the 17-year-old main character is actually believed by the adults in her life when she tells them she is asexual. Those aren't big elements in this story at all, but they are remarkably well done. And then there's the mystery itself, which maintains its tension throughout and yet doesn't leave you hanging at any point because you're discovering just enough new information at just the right times. It reminded me of some of my favourite (Dutch-language) books of my childhood, but with an extra sparkle of magic and so much more soul. And then there's all the cute animals! The way stories are used to transfer important cultural knowledge! The beautiful illustrations by Rovina Cai that add an entire little story of their own to each chapter!
I'm definitely going to read the prequel too.

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maecave15's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

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hellavaral's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

3.25

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archiebb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

General Thoughts

I tried listening to this but couldn’t get into the narrator so i switched to the ebook.
I won't be re-reading this or engaging with the rest of the series. I probably need to just realize YA is not something I enjoy at this part of my life.

Things I liked

Her positive relationship with both parents (that’s nice to see!).
The stories of her Six Great Grandmom which helped her understand her own powers better.
There’s some genuinely scary parts given it’s a YA book!

Criticisms

The dialogue is very stilted throughout.
The action is also not very engaging. The background stories are the most interesting.
The worldbuilding feels kinda like the author just pulled whatever she wanted that are well established fantasy things (like elves, ghost, vampires, etc) without establishing them herself in this world.

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raptorq's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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dhiyanah's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.5

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lauren_shilling's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.25

This book definitely surprised me! I had heard of it once or twice, but it didn't really catch my eye until I saw it in a bookstore and decided to give it a try. I'm really glad I did, because I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the world it created, and I loved learning about the main character's ability to raise the dead. It was so interesting. I also thought the mystery in this book was really well crafted, and the unnerving vibes you get from it until you find out what is actually happening was really well done. It's such a great exploration of native cultures and how they have been impacted throughout history. I learned a lot reading this book, and I would love to read more like it. It was a great way to bring parts of history to life and to the forefront of discussions. The characters were all great, and I loved following them all.

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alicia_rausch's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was unlike anything I’ve ever read before - fast pacing, great world-building rooted in Native lore, spooky adversaries, and Elatsoe is a relatable, strong protagonist with some much-needed ace rep in the fantasy space. If you're looking for something supernatural, a little mystery, a cute ghost dog sidekick, and original characters, this is for you.

The one thing I will say is I think this is classified as YA, but I think it should've been classified as middle-grade. The characters read as MUCH younger/less mature than 17, to the point of fault, but you could argue that this makes it more accessible to young readers of a wider age range.

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mcstressy's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This is more magical realism than fantasy - which is absolutely fine, but for folks going into this expecting pure fantasy, they may feel a bit unsatisfied.

Elatsoe is a great POV character. She's spunky and funny and caring and her relationship with her family is entertaining and charming. She was absolutely my favorite part of the book along with the descriptions of her magic and the world around her.

Her world is the same as ours but with magic and magic-folk being known entities. I think I was hoping for a little bit more magic and less murder mystery, but that's from going in mostly blind. I think the mystery itself was still handled-well, there were some twists and turns without it being a shock or jump scare

(you know who it is from pretty early on along with Elatsoe's suspicions. But the reveal of the Doctor's secret was interesting without it being a major twist. Not even mystery needs to be mind blowing, just believable and fascinating)

There were a few pacing issues where I think things could have moved with a bit more agency, and maybe a few questions that never really got answered, but the last half of the book was quite speedy. I hope to see more from this author and more works of fiction from indigenous authors!

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