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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
3.5 stars.
In Winter Counts, Virgil Wounded Horse hands out vigilante justice on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota to thugs who have it coming, when the feds and the rez police won't do the job. Sadly, this is a reality of life on many reservations, according to the book's author, a real-life practicing attorney. (Is there no way in which Natives are not screwed over by the American government? It's disgusting.) When Nathan, Virgil's 14YO nephew, gets in trouble with drugs and faces prison for a very long time, Virgil's job gets personal like never before.
It took some time to bond with the characters and stop comparing this story to The Only Good Indians, which I recently read. Yes, there are similarities, but each story deserves to be judged on its own merits, not compared to each other.
What's cool about this book is the Lakota terminology, names, and rituals, although many spiritual practices are considered private. All the characters have Native surnames. I've never seen that in a book before. There might be a white person or 2 (feds), but otherwise all the characters have Native surnames. Another cool plot point was reintroducing indigenous foods to the community to improve people's health.
The thing is, in Winter Counts you don't really know who you can trust.
David HW Weiden said a sequel is in the works. I'd read that.
In Winter Counts, Virgil Wounded Horse hands out vigilante justice on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota to thugs who have it coming, when the feds and the rez police won't do the job. Sadly, this is a reality of life on many reservations, according to the book's author, a real-life practicing attorney. (Is there no way in which Natives are not screwed over by the American government? It's disgusting.) When Nathan, Virgil's 14YO nephew, gets in trouble with drugs and faces prison for a very long time, Virgil's job gets personal like never before.
It took some time to bond with the characters and stop comparing this story to The Only Good Indians, which I recently read. Yes, there are similarities, but each story deserves to be judged on its own merits, not compared to each other.
What's cool about this book is the Lakota terminology, names, and rituals, although many spiritual practices are considered private. All the characters have Native surnames. I've never seen that in a book before. There might be a white person or 2 (feds), but otherwise all the characters have Native surnames. Another cool plot point was reintroducing indigenous foods to the community to improve people's health.
The thing is, in Winter Counts you don't really know who you can trust.
David HW Weiden said a sequel is in the works. I'd read that.
Really good book. I can only imagine that the author hoped to share Lakota traditions, educate about reservation conditions, entertain with a good story, and convince his audience to read his writing in the future. And in my opinion he succeeded spectacularly in each regard.
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Racism, Suicide, Colonisation
Minor: Rape
I found this book to be quite depressing without a lot of uplifting moments. The description of Carhenge is off by quite a bit but that’s something more personal to me. I was very thankful that they did pick the right place to dine in Denver and it was accurately described. The rest of the book seemed pretty realistic too.
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
I really wanted to love this.... but this just didn’t do it for me. I’m trying to read more Native American fiction, so I thought this was a great introduction since I usually love thrillers. This one not so much. There are a number of instances where the MC objectifies women and sometimes even kids. Every interaction he has with a female just felt icky to me. There’s also plenty of fat shaming. Now I don’t mind a MC being flawed, that’s kind of the point, but nowhere were these thought patterns ever addressed.
The writing in general also just came across as clunky. It didn’t have a nice flow to it and I just didn’t vibe with the style. It just made it jarring to read.
I did like the cultural aspects of this novel. I liked reading about the rituals, but also about the heartbreaking reality of being a Native American person living on a reservation. I liked the food aspect, and how Marie was trying to make a difference for her community.
But still so many characters felt purely functional. They didn’t feel like people but like plot conveniences.
In the end this is a 2 star for me and not a 3 star because I predicted the ‘big twist’ around chapter 3. It just felt really plain and simple and not really mysterious or thrilling at all.
Now for anyone wanting to read this I do recommend looking at some trigger warnings because this book is full of them. I personally wasn’t really bothered by most of them, but at some point I did have to put the book down and take a breather. (Death of a toddler specifically)
The writing in general also just came across as clunky. It didn’t have a nice flow to it and I just didn’t vibe with the style. It just made it jarring to read.
I did like the cultural aspects of this novel. I liked reading about the rituals, but also about the heartbreaking reality of being a Native American person living on a reservation. I liked the food aspect, and how Marie was trying to make a difference for her community.
But still so many characters felt purely functional. They didn’t feel like people but like plot conveniences.
In the end this is a 2 star for me and not a 3 star because I predicted the ‘big twist’ around chapter 3. It just felt really plain and simple and not really mysterious or thrilling at all.
Now for anyone wanting to read this I do recommend looking at some trigger warnings because this book is full of them. I personally wasn’t really bothered by most of them, but at some point I did have to put the book down and take a breather. (Death of a toddler specifically)