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lovelymisanthrope's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I picked this up because it is the Literally Dead Book Club pick for the month of May.
"Sisters of the Lost Nation" follows Anna Horn. Anna is a young Native girl who lives on a reservation with her family. She struggles to fit in at school and is constantly being bullied. When Anna is at work, she begins to see things that are suspicious, and she thinks the shady behavior is linked to the disappearances of other Native girls from the reservation. When Anna's own little sister, Grace, becomes one of the missing girls, she will stop at nothing to bring Grace home.
At the end of this novel, we get to learn that this book was inspired by real events that are presently happening. I think this novel does a great job at merging fiction and true crime to spread awareness to a problem that a lot of people are unaware of, because this problem does not get the attention it warrants.
This novel is marketed as a horror/mystery, and it definitely is, but I think it is a horror in a different way. The novel relies on some Native lore that might not read "scary" to all, but if it is lore that you believe in, it adds a haunting quality to the story that makes it feel all the more high stakes for Anna and Grace.
Anna was such a smart and brave character to read from. Even though she felt like an outcast, she remained true to who she is. She also had a complicated relationship with her sister, but she still showed compassion and concern when she went missing, which was great to see.
I flew through this novel and did not want to put it down. The writing was approachable and very easy to read.
I will definitely be keeping Nick Medina on my radar and I highly recommend this novel!
"Sisters of the Lost Nation" follows Anna Horn. Anna is a young Native girl who lives on a reservation with her family. She struggles to fit in at school and is constantly being bullied. When Anna is at work, she begins to see things that are suspicious, and she thinks the shady behavior is linked to the disappearances of other Native girls from the reservation. When Anna's own little sister, Grace, becomes one of the missing girls, she will stop at nothing to bring Grace home.
At the end of this novel, we get to learn that this book was inspired by real events that are presently happening. I think this novel does a great job at merging fiction and true crime to spread awareness to a problem that a lot of people are unaware of, because this problem does not get the attention it warrants.
This novel is marketed as a horror/mystery, and it definitely is, but I think it is a horror in a different way. The novel relies on some Native lore that might not read "scary" to all, but if it is lore that you believe in, it adds a haunting quality to the story that makes it feel all the more high stakes for Anna and Grace.
Anna was such a smart and brave character to read from. Even though she felt like an outcast, she remained true to who she is. She also had a complicated relationship with her sister, but she still showed compassion and concern when she went missing, which was great to see.
I flew through this novel and did not want to put it down. The writing was approachable and very easy to read.
I will definitely be keeping Nick Medina on my radar and I highly recommend this novel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual violence
readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Body horror, Body shaming, Drug use, Racism, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
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