Erin reviewed The Break by Katherena Vermette
Review of 'The Break' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I listened to this as an audiobook, and I really enjoyed the narrator. I don't think she overdid any of the voices, which is pet peeve of mine.
At first I thought it was a bad decision to listen to this rather than read the physical book because there are a lot of POVs thrown at you. But ultimately I was fine, I got the hang of who was who and their relationships. There are multiple generations of women here, so you can get a little muddled at first. It gets clearer as you keep reading. In that way it's like There, There by Tommy Orange which is one of the only other literary books I've read with quite so many rapidly shifting, interconnected POVs.
I enjoyed the multiple POVs and learning about all these women. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but they love each other and support …
I listened to this as an audiobook, and I really enjoyed the narrator. I don't think she overdid any of the voices, which is pet peeve of mine.
At first I thought it was a bad decision to listen to this rather than read the physical book because there are a lot of POVs thrown at you. But ultimately I was fine, I got the hang of who was who and their relationships. There are multiple generations of women here, so you can get a little muddled at first. It gets clearer as you keep reading. In that way it's like There, There by Tommy Orange which is one of the only other literary books I've read with quite so many rapidly shifting, interconnected POVs.
I enjoyed the multiple POVs and learning about all these women. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but they love each other and support each other as best they can through this horrible event. That was really beautiful to see.
The only POV I could have done without was Tommy's. I think he was included to provide information from the police side of things and to explore the idea of being biracial, half indigenous. But it didn't feel necessary and kind of bugged me when the rest of the POVs were women. ;)
Vermette does something really tough here by taking on the POV of the victim of an assault as well as the perpetrator. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that; I think it's clear who did the assault even though the specifics are withheld until the end. My understanding is that the companion novel, The Strangers, goes more into the perpetrator's life, so Vermette continues to take on that challenge. I think it's handled really well here. While the women in the story don't need or want to explore that POV right away, you as the reader really should. It takes the assault and puts it into the context of systemic problems and generational trauma rather than handling it as if the perpetrator is just a "bad egg."
Overall, a really good but tough, emotional read. I will definitely check out The Strangers.
