Welcome to Litsy!

This is the second book in the trilogy of The Stranger family and it packs just as big a punch as the first, The Break. I love it even while it breaks my heart

I may have brought 7 books plus the 2 I‘m reading on my kindle as chapter a day. I‘m here for a week. Katherena Vermette is coming to London ON to read from her new book out on September 3 so I better clear her back catalogue off my TBR

Great read as the saga continues! So happy to hear that the third book of this trilogy (?) is out. Yeah!

Exquisite! Absolutely exquisite! Each character is perfectly imperfect and drawn perfectly. I felt I knew all of the characters and had my eyes opened to their pain. Each reveals themselves in language and thought that is exclusively theirs. The writing is perfect.

Great book! I loved the multigenerational character development. Lots of grief and trauma, and lots of love

Despite the (very) heavy subject matter, and Vermette‘s talent for stark realism, The Strangers is surprisingly readable. The pages fly by! It really exceeded my expectations, and I‘m still mulling over it days later. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-strangers-katherena-vermette/

Another beautifully written story from this author.

This one not only about love, survival, traditions, endurance and moving forward with hope for future generations, it‘s about loss, it‘s about generational trauma.

Very moving.

THE STRANGERS isn‘t as instantly gripping as Katherena Vermette‘s first book, THE BREAK, but it builds so damned well. I read a little, then I read a little more, then I couldn‘t make myself put the book down because I felt so much, and wanted so much, for each of the characters.

Read this. Keep the trigger warnings in the front in mind, but READ IT. 4.5 stars

Casey helped me start THE STRANGERS this morning. I think it‘s gonna pack a huge punch.

We read in the hallway because little dude‘s in pain from a kidney stone and this is where he feels most comfortable. Hopefully he‘ll manage to pass it today.

This was so. damn. good. The writing, the structure, the character growth - all of it was just so damn good.

I‘m on my own this weekend so I should have lots of reading time - I‘m listening to Wahala right now for #JoyousJanuary but my library book is due on Thursday and I‘m really enjoying The Strangers so those are high on the list this weekend, too. What‘s everyone else reading?

#WeekendReading

Full glowing review here: http://girlwellread.blogspot.com/2021/12/the-strangers-by-katherena-vermette.htm....

Wow! This is dark and filled with despair and yet there are glimmers of hope. It is a powerful look at Indigenous woman through a fictional family. Racism, sexism, abuse, unwanted pregnancy, the foster system, drug and alcohol addiction, crime...is is all there and yet this is a book whose characters will forever stay with me. While the number of characters can be confusing, it is so worth sticking with it. I gave it 5/5 stars.

A month after reading this, the characters are still with me, representing 3 generations of Métis women in Winnipeg. Their reality is intergenerational trauma, poverty, addiction & incarceration. On top of that, living in a time & place—Canada—that does not value Indigenous women, clearly takes its toll. They don‘t want pity from the reader. They face the world on their own terms. Above all, this is a powerful story of resistance. #Canadian

Toby was nothing if not hopeful, and dim-witted. Hopeful and dim-witted were usually one and the same.

[note: this passage is through the viewpoint of one of the characters, Margaret, who‘s had a hard life]

Then the world went to shit, and everybody started wearing masks and face shields, but really Phoenix‘s life wasn‘t all that different. She‘d been social distancing her whole life.

I was doing a story for English. It was a slipstream, a girl who could travel through history and meet a bunch of strangers who turned out to be her ancestors. Her family.

[I like what you did there, Vermette: referencing one of your previous works within this novel.]

Friday night reading. #ShadowGiller