Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Sisters of the Lost Nation

This book was absolutely wonderful with its commentary on a lot of issues. The only thing I felt It lacked was closure. We never get to see if justice is given to the victims and perpetrators which is historically a huge issue in native American crime and violence, but the story that was actually put on the page was absolutely fantastic, thrilling, and complex.

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directorpurry's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

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readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

The ideas in the book are much better then the execution which is boggled down by clunky clumsy writing at times and ironically misogyny for a book inspired by the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis in the Americas.

A lot of this is microcosm of the two sisters story Medina depicts where the younger sister being harmed and cursed by a man she didn’t know is framed to have been actually caused bc she didn’t explicitly “obey” her moral older sister who told her not to come with her with no real reasoning given etc. that even clearly not intentional sexist framing of violence to women as failing of the girl to woman’s approach to life or not heeding other women is deeply harmful. It’s just a book that would benefit a lot for vastly more feminist thoughts which is disappointing.

Also while children have done worse things to each other and have deep social thoughts I thought how they were written fighting or the protagonist didn’t seem how kids would express that violence or commentary which a parts just felt like the author pausing the story to tell us his perspective on various Native American issues instead of something better Integrated into the theme or narrative. The book simply suffers from too much telling vs showing. And also have the protagonist almost never be wrong and making her seem better than other women for not being like them or rejecting anything seem as feminine including just friendships between girls ending for studs to other things that felt catty. Or how the mother passivity felt less taken seriously as a character or depicted less sympathetically then the father who was damaging himself and property in arguments ? Like it seemed like a book about women that only held maybe two in any real esteem.

But I did like how he wrote the favoritism to the son/brother.

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abby271's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.0

You ever recommend a book for your bookclub’s pick of the month and then you… don’t like it much at all? I was very excited by the premise of this story, and I didn’t necessarily dislike it, but I just don’t think everything came together. In my opinion, the writing was not great, the sheer amount of stilted similes drove me up the wall and it felt very juvenile. I don’t think the structure totally worked, I understand why he did the time jumps but it mostly caused confusion and interrupted the tension of the plot for me. I also didn’t really believe in Anna’s character, there was something both too old and too young about her, she was weirdly good at everything. I did love her Two Spirit self discovery, though I think that could have been explored more. The story telling aspect was really interesting, I think more could have been done with the supernatural horror (because this was marketed as a horror I expected a bit more). The ending also just didn’t feel quite right, it was rushed and felt slightly unresolved. I think there is something great here, but I think I’d recommend Firekeeper’s Daughter for a rez mystery about missing and murdered Indigenous women before this one.

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cass_lit's review against another edition

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4.25

This was such a well done YA about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic. Anna is a high school senior who has always believed some monster to be responsible for all of the women who have gone missing on the reservation since she was young. As girls her age begin to be the ones disappearing, culminating in her younger sister’s disappearance, Anna begins to realize the true extent of the violence and the racism that keeps this issue so prevalent. I also loved the brief discussion that touched on two-spirits.

This is not an easy read, but it’s real. There’s a little bit of a twist at the end, as you (or at least I) believe the story to be over before something is revealed. I was happy it turned out the way it did, but I would’ve completely understood the alternate ending as well. Nick Medina’s author’s note at the end encapsulated everything I was thinking about it and I think it’s a really important takeaway — so many people out there are still grieving and searching for loved ones.

The alternating timelines were a tad difficult for me to follow because they ended up so close, not that they even started out very far apart.

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ec_tyche's review

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The only part about this book I didn’t like was the way it jumps around in the timeline. Other than that, I really enjoyed how this book was meaningful while still remaining a thriller novel. I loved that Two Spirits was included in this as well, it made it feel inclusive in a new way for me. I also loved reading about other Native pieces such as the folklore and beliefs that were included in this book. The ending was really great, I thought as was the authors note.

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