The pacing felt off on this to me. At times I couldn't put it down. At times I would go weeks without reading it. I do think that Toni is a gifted storyteller. I also sorts wish she relied on fewer dictionary definitions of words.

Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land is , of course, non-fiction.
It is the story of Toni Jensen, an indigenous woman.
It is about violence in contemporary times, as well as in the past.
It is about places where guns are "carried" as standard procedure.
I tried very hard to get into this book. Her style is jumping forward and backward in time.
There are several locations involved.
It got incredibly confusing.
I hung on for about 30% of the book (according to Kindle).
Then, I realized that not only was I not looking forward to reading the rest of this book, but I didn't care either.
This book was highly rated and acclaimed. So, I was disappointed.
I do believe that this "memoir" would have been better as a long essay. She makes her point over and over again in different times and places, but after a while, I just didn't want to hear it again.

This amazing book goes on sale tomorrow and I’m so excited I can’t sleep. Not only is Toni Jensen’s memoir incredibly touching and discerning, it’s also beautifully written. I underlined half the manuscript when I read it the first time, and I’m pretty sure I underlined the rest when I read it a second time. About the intersection of gun violence and existing as an Indigenous woman in America, CARRY is one of the most important memoirs I’ve ever read. Combining personal experience and historical, CARRY is an essential reminder that living in one’s country is not the same as surviving it. This memoir is powerful, poetic and forensic, and the kind of book that reminds me exactly how powerful storytelling can be. I think it’s perfect for fans of Carmen Maria Machado, Jesmyn Ward, and Therese Marie Mailhot. It’s been an honor to work on the marketing campaign for CARRY, and I hope you’ll all consider buying a copy!

It is difficult when it comes to a memoir- someone's personal experiences. It's hard to rate such a book. This book was intriguing- Toni Jensen is an indigenous woman and in this book she shares her experiences in friendship, family, sisterhood and parenting. She also address social justice issues including gun violence, racism and police brutality. At times it's hard because it feels too technical, as if she is giving definitions straight from the dictionary. And the style of telling her story in a series of essays is unique but also a little disjointed at times. Overall a very interesting read and I definitely learned some new things. Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This memoir is one of the most interesting memoirs that I've read because it covers a vast range of super important topics, including gun violence, Native rights, environmental issues (especially as it relates to Native land), domestic violence, traumatic experiences, and racism. To think that one person has personally experienced and encountered all of these facets of our society is almost unfathomable. And she writes about these topics intimately but also includes astounding statistics and data. However, the book was very hard to follow because it wasn't in chronological order and also because the style of writing was very chaotic, sometimes almost like a stream of consciousness. Part of it was probably because of how much the author is trying to pack into each chapter, but part of it was likely because it does convey the myriad of emotions that can arise with these issues, which made the memoir very powerful and impossible to look away. Nonetheless, I had to be in the right mindset to wade through the book although it is certainly worth reading because of the pervasive nature of these issues in our society today.

I dont like to rate memoirs because its their stories so Im rating this based on the messages included and the writing.

The experiences of being an Indigenous woman in America were written in a lyrical prose. I found myself highlighting quite of bit of stuff. It read like poetry, but the experiences were not in chronological order which got confusing and it seemed a little disjointed.

She talked about white passing, guns, police brutality, and more. I do think this book was a bit too long as the same messages were repeated even though it was written well and the experience are important to read about. I liked how she mentioned the cops feelings about going home and tucking their kids into bed in full gear and what their kids are feeling. I think it really does go down to our kids on how we feel about things because they are shaped by that and their opinions derive from that.

I think its important that we read our voices novels, because only by taking the time to hear them can things start to change.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine publishing for the e-arc access for my honest review.

I am disappointed. I just couldn't latch on to this book. Too morose. Too one sided for my taste. I really gave it a chance.

Carry by Toni Jensen is a powerful collection of essays that takes a critical look at gun violence in the US and how it intersects with domestic violence, Indigenous women's lives, and the land we occupy. I really appreciated the way that Jensen was able to connect the personal and the political through the autobiographical aspects of this book. I also personally enjoyed her etymology break downs of certain words that created the themes of her essays. I know some people weren't really into that, but I'm a word nerd and I found those parts fascinating.

Some parts of the book were a bit meandering and could have used some concise editing. But, there were truly powerful moments sprinkled throughout, and I overall find this a valuable read.

While I did not finish this book, I was fascinated by what I read. Growing up as a Native American/Indigenous person without the benefit of the tribal family must be very difficult. Add to that having a substance abusing parent and life becomes awful. The author does a good job explaining -- in beautiful language -- what her experiences were. I hope that our patrons will discover this book and read it.

When I first picked up <b>Carry</b> I thought it was going to be about Jensen's experience as an indigenous woman with gun violence. To some extent that is what it is, but <b>Carry</b> is also about violence against women, children, animals and as she discusses fracking, the raping and pillaging of the land. Through these essays Jensen correlates different forms of violence and provides evidence of how one type of violence breeds another. We have seen on the news how peaceful protests at the Dakota Access pipeline have turned violent when police entered in riot gear to remove the protesters. Water cannons fired. Attack dogs were sicced. Tear gas was sprayed. Rubber bullets were shot. Tasers stunned.

But this was not the beginning nor the end of the violence at Standing Rock. Jensen discusses how these construction projects serve as a hub for human trafficking with native bodies being reduced to commerce.

She also drives this message home using statistics about abuse. People found guilty of animal cruelty tend to be domestic abusers as well. None of their loved ones are untouched. Whether they are a witness or victim, violence leaves its scars. To which Jensen addresses violence against oneself in the form of chemical addiction. Drugs, in this sense, can be used as a means to get through pain but also to inflict pain.

<b>Carry</b> was a heavy load to bear (pun intended). Because of my own anxiety I had to put it down at times. I couldn't let myself steep in the book and all of the emotions it wrought. Yet I have to say it is very well written. Despite all the violence and triggers, there is a sort of poetry to Jensen's words. As we navigate through these spaces and the fear that is perpetuated through the systemic violence against brown and black people, the lesson is realizing that the cycle of abuse is not just something that can be applied to dysfunctional households. Violence permeates our society and trickles down. It's a disease that we need to be more vigilant about finding a cure.

There's nothing I love more than a brave, female truthteller. Tori Jensen is a new fave. What a voice! She also taps into the sensory-rich settings and draws the reader into the complicated post-trauma, Native experience. Raw. Honest. Unique. This is the kind of story that strips away the pretty pretenses and lays a soul bare, offering a core of truth to all who are strong enough to receive it.

<i>Carry</i>

This is language focused writing. The writing is dense but has a flow that shows her skill. She often breaks definitions down for us like "to worry" as a form of both choking/tearing something slowly and to be distressed and anxious. She is so crafty with her parallels. She is cognizant of the words she is using, writing that she is aware of the connotations of 'boy' and 'man' when it comes to Black victims of violent crimes, for instance. Because language matters. The way the author situates herself around the original peoples of the lands she lives on which helps to frame the memoir in a decolonised way. The various cities she's been a resident of are contextualised by both their American location (Minneapolis) and the nation that are the first people of the land (Dakota and Anishinaabe). Her care is only rivaled by her writing skill. For fans of <i>A Mind Spread Out on the Ground</i> and <i>The Undocumented Americans </i>.

I appreciated that this book gave a lot of insight into the indigenous experience in America. It's something I enjoyed learning more about. The stories in this book were impactful, and I'll be thinking about them for a while. However, I found this book to be a little bit disorganized - not in terms of the chapters, but the actual stories themselves. It felt very stream-of-consciousness, which didn't personally work for me.

This phenomenal memoir beautifully and heartbreakingly describes Toni Jensen's experience as an indigenous woman in the United States while also exploring violence in its many forms. It is a well-balanced mix of personal narrative with social commentary that left me with all the feelings. Her thoughtful and intelligent perspectives are presented in writing that is as exquisitely crafted as it is socio-politically astute.

This book was great. It was such a powerful read. Full of emotions. I couldn’t put it down!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This was a series of essays so it felt somewhat disconnected, but it was beautifully done. The common theme is violence which is also timely in our world at this time when violence is so rife. I consider it an important read even though it is difficult to read and will stay with you for a long time.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This isn’t my genre of choice (although Carry doesn’t pigeon-hole into a set genre, I don’t think). The book was sent to me with a suggestion I read it, and I’m glad I did. It’s a beautifully-written, important book that’s original and thought-provoking. Toni Jensen's use of language is always original and often breath-taking. I resonated with her love for words, for collective nouns, for definitions – and for birds.
I found Carry uncomfortable reading as Jensen writes about her experiences of racism, gun violence, being Metis and being a woman with candour, and admirable objectivity. She’s never sentimental, nor does she sensationalise, and I enjoyed her candour. She also uses gentle irony at times, such as her comment about science newly quantifying “what some of us have long known”. And yet, despite – or because of - her poetic way of describing horrors, the book is shocking.
Carry is not only autobiographical. Jensen writes about her country, America, as a whole – describing how it is failing its people; how written into its very DNA and language are these insidiously racist ways of looking at the world, and thinking about it, and living in it. I enjoyed her descriptions of the words, the language, the lexicon we use about our world, all of which reinforce stereotypes and unconscious racism.
The book is an indictment of so much of what’s wrong with modern-day America, from its history of stealing land to its destruction of the environment (and history) for profit to its current political dispensation. It made me feel sad, and question my own way of looking at the world. Although I’m not American, it spoke to me as I’m sure it will to readers around the world.

This is a tough one to review, if I’m being honest. I think calling it a memoir was a disservice, and would have been better served by calling it an essay collection. Although thematically it was connected, the lack of chronology or a more obviously intentional timeline resulted in a disjointed story that was ultimately distracting. Last bit of constructive critique, and then I’ll move on to the good bits... this could have used a stronger edit - the dictionary definitions and at times the repetition pulled me out of the narrative even further.

That being said, so much of this was poignant and slaps. I found myself highlighting several passages that resonated with me as if Toni Jensen was inside my head - giving words to something I hadn’t quite realized was residing there. It’s hard to imagine one woman experiencing (and surviving!) so much trauma and violence - but as she writes, many of us in America witness, experience, even expect so much everyday violence as “normal.”

Despite its flaws, I think this is absolutely worth reading and would widely recommend. I do wonder if some of the stylistic choices would fare better in audio format.

I was really expecting to like/ appreciate/ consume Toni Jensen’s memoir, as this genre is strongly in my wheelhouse. However, I struggled with the ARC , having to push myself to pick it up every time I put it down. This book was more a series of essays focusing on betrayals, disappointments, harrowing experiences, violence, abuse and addiction. A lot of focus was on guns and the destruction they yield, hence the title Carry. This memoir was well written and some sections were very moving, but the nonlinear structure, heavy material and snippets of information felt jumbled and lacked the emotional connection I was looking for.
The author’s life is worthy of exploring, and I commend her for sharing her experiences and highlighting the struggles Métis women face. A timely book but unfortunately not one I particularly felt invested in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for gifting me with this ARC. In exchange I’ve shared my unbiased review.

It’s okay, I’ve learned, to love the things that make you, even if they also are the things that unmake you.

Métis writer and professor Toni Jensen opens her memoir, Carry, with a scene that will resonate with every woman. A chance encounter in nature with two men that suddenly turns from ordinary to harrowing. She describes a man gesturing her out of her car with a handgun with a smile, while “say[ing] things that are incongruous with his smiling face.”

Not that we’ve all had a gun pulled on us, but that dissonance between what a man says and the look on his face. It gave me chills.

I had chills often reading this, actually. Jensen confronts stereotypes, particularly of Native Americans, and interprets them in relation to herself and her family. It addresses her relationships, the birth of her daughter, and working at universities as a Métis woman. The thread running through it all are haunting encounters with gun violence.

There’s a tone of melancholy that runs throughout and it suited the material so well. Jensen manages to sound both profoundly strong and yet weary, not because she’s been hit with so much but because look at the state of this fucking country (those are my words and impression, I don’t want to put that all on her).

The portions around gun violence read the strongest. This is a harrowing subject any way you take it, but Jensen has had connections to more than her fair share of shootings and the threat of them, including what seems like an ever-present threat for college professors in their courses, or the fear when it happens to colleagues. It’s stomach-turning. This is no way to live, or to die.

Because all roads used to lead back to that house, and it is a measure of time and hard work that they no longer do.

A story told in bits and pieces is around her dysfunctional childhood home and abusive father. He later falls ill with Lewy body dementia, and she considers her complicated feelings for him, how she has more affection for her dogs. “This is what it would be like, day-to-day now, with my father if my heart were a different heart. If we loved each other differently. Each day I would watch him cross and hold my breath and hold my heart steady and I would walk around to meet him.”

This, in my opinion, is memoir at its absolute best, when a writer is forced to examine something in themselves that’s so uncomfortable to think or say but they have to say anyway. This has moments of brilliance but overall I found it disjointed and at times repetitive. I noticed a few points where facts or details were repeated, which made it seem less like a cohesive memoir and more like interconnected essays. It also didn’t establish much about who Jensen is, it just jumps right in and we get something of a portrait in fragments.

But it’s haunting, has a powerful voice and a lot to show and say about violence against women in many forms, and gives ample food for thought. It also teaches — in one of my favorite anecdotes — the importance of bringing the proper sized bag of snakes.