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carrix2's review
3.0
This sequel wasn't as good as the first one, [b:Once Were Warriors|133496|Once Were Warriors|Alan Duff|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1346869495l/133496._SY75_.jpg|848074]. This deals with the aftermath of the first book, how the Heke family is dealing with the deaths of Grace and Nig. Abe joins the gang that killed Nig to try to get revenge. Little sister Polly is growing up and trying to understand what happened to her sister Grace. Jake and Beth are divorced and Jake is struggling to move on the way Beth has.
Again, there is heartache, death, poverty, drugs, and violence. All the things the first book held. As well as a look at the way poverty holds a person down and makes is impossible to climb out of, not the mention the way a country deals with its indigenous peoples.
Ultimately, this book just didn't have much plot to it. Lots of people feeling sorry for themselves and struggling for something different. The only plot happens right at the end in the last few chapters. So getting through it was a bit of a slog, especially with the slang, uneducated language the book is written in.
Again, there is heartache, death, poverty, drugs, and violence. All the things the first book held. As well as a look at the way poverty holds a person down and makes is impossible to climb out of, not the mention the way a country deals with its indigenous peoples.
Ultimately, this book just didn't have much plot to it. Lots of people feeling sorry for themselves and struggling for something different. The only plot happens right at the end in the last few chapters. So getting through it was a bit of a slog, especially with the slang, uneducated language the book is written in.
nicolaanaru's review
Alan Duff explores the aftermath of Once Were Warriors in this novel, following the lives of Beth, Polly, Abe, Tania, Mulla, Gordon, and Jake as they all try to get their lives together. In parts, Duff is very successful in bringing the reader along and seeing how (in particular) Jake gets off the streets and starts to make something of himself. Many of the characters in Duff’s book muse on what I think is one of Duff’s core themes in his writing, Māori realizing their potential.
There is much more that I could say - but I’m not going to: As with all of Duff’s works I have read so far, there is a lot of brutality against women, lobbying for Māori to just bootstrap their way out of racism/trauma, and explicit racial slurs against Asian people.
But mainly you’re at fault, Jake, because a man has to face himself no matter how hard it is. At some stage in his life he’s gotta face himself.
gmjrooke's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, and Domestic abuse
mikelmas's review
5.0
This is, in its own way, as hard a book to read as Once Were Warriors. It’s a story of loss and redemption that toke me a while to get through. I had to stop reading from time to time, just to feel the loss of the characters. I cried more than once, reading it. This book will stay with me for a long time.