Erin reviewed Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline
Review of 'Empire of Wild' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is maybe a 3.5 rounded up. I had a good time, and I thought the ending was pretty strong.
I love when I can read some magical realism or fantasy that brings in the mythology, folklore, history etc. of another culture, so that was a big plus here.
This was the author’s first adult novel, and I feel like it shows. There’s a level of simplicity to the themes and the writing that feels more YA. Joan herself felt adult enough for me to be engaged, though. And there’s some sexually explicit content making it adult - it almost felt like some of that was included to make it an adult book, which was a bit odd.
I loved the use of the traveling revival tent and the way it highlighted the way Christianity can be weaponized, especially against Indigenous peoples.
I had a really good time, the stakes …
This is maybe a 3.5 rounded up. I had a good time, and I thought the ending was pretty strong.
I love when I can read some magical realism or fantasy that brings in the mythology, folklore, history etc. of another culture, so that was a big plus here.
This was the author’s first adult novel, and I feel like it shows. There’s a level of simplicity to the themes and the writing that feels more YA. Joan herself felt adult enough for me to be engaged, though. And there’s some sexually explicit content making it adult - it almost felt like some of that was included to make it an adult book, which was a bit odd.
I loved the use of the traveling revival tent and the way it highlighted the way Christianity can be weaponized, especially against Indigenous peoples.
I had a really good time, the stakes were high, and some important topics were touched on through fantasy elements. If anything I wish it had gone further, developed the ideas even more.
