Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Das Leuchten der Rentiere

A dark and emotional read about Elsa and her Sámi community. The book starts slowly building the reader’s awareness of community and characters. Environmentalism, colonialism, and racism and feature heavily in this one.
I stopped reading this book about 30% in because I just wasn’t prepared for the harshness of the hatred or the cruelty to animals (the reindeer, which are a focal point of the community).
A year later, I’m back and totally immersed in this book!. The pacing ramps up about midway and the characters come alive!
I’d recommend this one if you’re looking for a challenging, informative, and engaging read.

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lauriej's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A brilliant book about the Sami Reindeer herders and the difficulties and prejudices they face. It was a hard read because of the injustice and fear the people face on a daily basis, but an amazing book nonetheless

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Elsa is only 9 years old when Robert threatens to kill her if she tells anyone he killed her reindeer. As a Sámi in Sweden, Elsa and her family face xenophobia all the time but it gets increasingly worse as they begin to report the reindeer poaching they experience. Starting when Elsa was 9, reindeer in her family's collective begin to show up decapitated, mutilated, and missing body parts. Their reports go unsolved and the tension causes rampant issues within their family and collective. I think this book was really interesting when it was focusing on the main points of the book but it often went off topic and droned on. Once the book hit 80% it ramped up and I really enjoyed it. Even when it was slow I was hooked.

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dayslife143's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative sad 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

4.25

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ruthmoog's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

Somehow this book brings souch complexity and intersectionality, into a clear perspective. It's topical and political, whilst being heartfelt and expressive, reflecting on the impacts of racism, animal cruelty, sexism, mental health, climate change, cultural change, childhood trauma, corruption... And it's told in such an open honest way, without romanticising Sámi or first Nations people.

I think the story will stick with me like a 5* read.

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dana_sg's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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hannaemilia's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative tense

4.75

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sarahc0608's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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