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bookishcori's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
The Night Wanderer // Drew Hayden Taylor
A mysterious lodger. An angsty teenager. An encounter at night. 🦉
Mild on the scary factor and a bit predictable but highly readable and enjoyable. While many gothic novels take place in castles, the setting of this is the land [especially the dark woods].
This is my third DHT book & his debut novel [he’s written many plays, NF and a couple short stories, but only 3 novels]. Once again set on the fictional Anishinaabe reservation, Otter Lake.
Motorcycles & Sweetgrass still has my whole heart of the three books - which has a similar vibe to this one (with the stranger comes to town storyline) but is much funnier and a deeper story.
The Night Wanderer is good if you want a quick scary season [or whenever] read.
A mysterious lodger. An angsty teenager. An encounter at night. 🦉
Mild on the scary factor and a bit predictable but highly readable and enjoyable. While many gothic novels take place in castles, the setting of this is the land [especially the dark woods].
This is my third DHT book & his debut novel [he’s written many plays, NF and a couple short stories, but only 3 novels]. Once again set on the fictional Anishinaabe reservation, Otter Lake.
Motorcycles & Sweetgrass still has my whole heart of the three books - which has a similar vibe to this one (with the stranger comes to town storyline) but is much funnier and a deeper story.
The Night Wanderer is good if you want a quick scary season [or whenever] read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Racism
bookishmillennial's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
Premise:
-set on Anishinaabe land
-young adult horror and coming of age
-16-year-old Tiffany is navigating a lot at the moment: her mother has left them for a White man, her dad begins renting out her room (like ... what?), her boyfriend is acting out of character, she is somewhat of an outsider at school, is not fully fluent in her grandma and dad's native language, and her relationship with her dad becomes more volatile
-Pierre, the man who is renting the room, is actually a 400-year-old vampire, and we get his backstory a bit
-cw: suicidal thoughts, abandonment
Thoughts:
I love the thematic presence of a vampire in a First Nations story! Admittedly, I felt more pulled to the parts of the story where Pierre was involved, because the mystery was very intriguing. I did get a bit frustrated with reading about a teenage girl written by an older man (sometimes it felt like she could have been fleshed out a bit more, rather than onlyyyy feeling angsty). However, I still enjoyed the audiobook of this (I listened at 2.2x speed because of my ADHD lol). I would definitely try another book from this author!
Premise:
-set on Anishinaabe land
-young adult horror and coming of age
-16-year-old Tiffany is navigating a lot at the moment: her mother has left them for a White man, her dad begins renting out her room (like ... what?), her boyfriend is acting out of character, she is somewhat of an outsider at school, is not fully fluent in her grandma and dad's native language, and her relationship with her dad becomes more volatile
-Pierre, the man who is renting the room, is actually a 400-year-old vampire, and we get his backstory a bit
-cw: suicidal thoughts, abandonment
Thoughts:
I love the thematic presence of a vampire in a First Nations story! Admittedly, I felt more pulled to the parts of the story where Pierre was involved, because the mystery was very intriguing. I did get a bit frustrated with reading about a teenage girl written by an older man (sometimes it felt like she could have been fleshed out a bit more, rather than onlyyyy feeling angsty). However, I still enjoyed the audiobook of this (I listened at 2.2x speed because of my ADHD lol). I would definitely try another book from this author!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
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