You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
dark
sad
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:
Yes
I believe I have found my favorite book of 2020!! This book was amazing!
Lakota winter counts are documents of recorded history. “Usually drawn on Buffalo skins or deer hide.”
Virgil Wounded Horse is a Lakota fixer on the Rosebud Reservation. He has his own idea or forms of justice for members of his tribe that break the law. Members who have raped org thieves. The tribes are only allowed to prosecute misdemeanors, and the US government prosecutes felonies and they rarely follow through on any of the crimes on the reservations unless it’s a murder and thats so they can showcase the crime.
When Virgil is hired by one of the council members, who happens to be his ex girlfriends father to investigate and chase off some heroin dealers, they have started selling on the reservation, he first turns the job down, but when his nephew Nathan who is fourteen is rushed to the hospital after overdosing on heroin, the job is now personal. Soon with the help of his girlfriend Marie they are taken on a journey to investigate whose bringing the heroine into the reservation and they find themselves racing to stop the drugs and save Nathan’s life. My gosh this book was unbelievable, The characters felt so real to me what they each faces between loss, heartbreak deceit and so much pain. The facts your given on the Lakota tribe and how they are treated and the disparities within the criminal justice system and the healthcare system is appalling it angered me how can the US government get away with this? The characters were so well developed and I loved seeing the different traditions and looking into the lives of the Lakota people. If I could give this book more than five stars I would!!
Lakota winter counts are documents of recorded history. “Usually drawn on Buffalo skins or deer hide.”
Virgil Wounded Horse is a Lakota fixer on the Rosebud Reservation. He has his own idea or forms of justice for members of his tribe that break the law. Members who have raped org thieves. The tribes are only allowed to prosecute misdemeanors, and the US government prosecutes felonies and they rarely follow through on any of the crimes on the reservations unless it’s a murder and thats so they can showcase the crime.
When Virgil is hired by one of the council members, who happens to be his ex girlfriends father to investigate and chase off some heroin dealers, they have started selling on the reservation, he first turns the job down, but when his nephew Nathan who is fourteen is rushed to the hospital after overdosing on heroin, the job is now personal. Soon with the help of his girlfriend Marie they are taken on a journey to investigate whose bringing the heroine into the reservation and they find themselves racing to stop the drugs and save Nathan’s life. My gosh this book was unbelievable, The characters felt so real to me what they each faces between loss, heartbreak deceit and so much pain. The facts your given on the Lakota tribe and how they are treated and the disparities within the criminal justice system and the healthcare system is appalling it angered me how can the US government get away with this? The characters were so well developed and I loved seeing the different traditions and looking into the lives of the Lakota people. If I could give this book more than five stars I would!!
WINTER COUNTS by David Heska Wanbli Weiden was a thrill ride and I loved it! Once I got to the midway point I just couldn’t put this book down. I had to find out how it all ends. While reading the last part I was gasping and I loved the surprises!
.
This novel follows Virgil, a Native American private vigilante, who is hired to find a drug dealer. I loved the action packed plot and the realistic dialogue. It was also really interesting to read about the Native American culture. Some parts were truly shocking and I loved it!
.
Thank you to Ecco Books via NetGalley for my advance reader’s e-proof!
.
This novel follows Virgil, a Native American private vigilante, who is hired to find a drug dealer. I loved the action packed plot and the realistic dialogue. It was also really interesting to read about the Native American culture. Some parts were truly shocking and I loved it!
.
Thank you to Ecco Books via NetGalley for my advance reader’s e-proof!
"Sadness is like an abandoned car left out in a field for good — it changes a little over the years, but doesn’t ever disappear"
an indigenous YA thriller set on the Lakota Rosebud reservation where the thriller elements are real life.
Reminded me a bit of the movie Wind River.
an indigenous YA thriller set on the Lakota Rosebud reservation where the thriller elements are real life.
Reminded me a bit of the movie Wind River.
A sort of genreless read, in my opinion. If I’m waiting until the last eighth of the book for the book to speed up to something like a thriller tempo… The book probably shouldn’t be described as a thriller. Not a mystery novel, because I was onto The Big Reveal™ from the character’s introduction, and I’m usually really bad on picking up these clues. For real this might have been the first time that I identified who the villain was before the bad guy’s monologue.
Writing had a backstitched feel to it, with random scenes sewed into the plot to chew up some page count. For example, lots of “I was going to visit Nathan, but first I headed to…” thrown in. Also a handful of confusing and forced poeticism. A line that stuck out to me in particular (paraphrased, too lazy to scrub through the book): Her touch was like the tail of a comet. Please tell me what this is supposed to mean. She was cold and distant? Her hands were hard and icy? Something that’s experienced once every 77 years?
I’m also not often one to listen to things on audiobook, so my review may be skewed because of this. The narrator’s voice made Marie--who was already pretty insufferable--borderline unbearable. I could go on and on about this. Marie is a total manic pixie dream girl character. She’s smart. She’s rich. She’s a good cook (she solves EVERYBODY’s problems by offering to cook them something?) She’s a goody-two-shoes, law-abiding citizen who just wants to help people! Oh yeah, but don’t worry, she’s also got a rebellious side. And she’s a party animal!
Umm…sure?
Two stars from me only because I was able to learn about Lakota culture and more about the many, many injustices that Native Americans have faced/are facing from the US government.
Writing had a backstitched feel to it, with random scenes sewed into the plot to chew up some page count. For example, lots of “I was going to visit Nathan, but first I headed to…” thrown in. Also a handful of confusing and forced poeticism. A line that stuck out to me in particular (paraphrased, too lazy to scrub through the book): Her touch was like the tail of a comet. Please tell me what this is supposed to mean. She was cold and distant? Her hands were hard and icy? Something that’s experienced once every 77 years?
I’m also not often one to listen to things on audiobook, so my review may be skewed because of this. The narrator’s voice made Marie--who was already pretty insufferable--borderline unbearable. I could go on and on about this. Marie is a total manic pixie dream girl character. She’s smart. She’s rich. She’s a good cook (she solves EVERYBODY’s problems by offering to cook them something?) She’s a goody-two-shoes, law-abiding citizen who just wants to help people! Oh yeah, but don’t worry, she’s also got a rebellious side. And she’s a party animal!
Umm…sure?
Two stars from me only because I was able to learn about Lakota culture and more about the many, many injustices that Native Americans have faced/are facing from the US government.
Support Indigenous art. 100%. Support representation in all genres. 100%.
But oof, this book. It would have been a much quicker read, but I had to keep pausing to send quotes to friends with messages like "
But oof, this book. It would have been a much quicker read, but I had to keep pausing to send quotes to friends with messages like "
4.5 ⭐
What I loved most about this book was the care it took in describing and honoring the Lakota people and their traditions. It also very poignantly talked about the injustices done to Native Americans by the government. My heart aches at the atrocities. Reader beware that this book is very gritty and graphic in nature.
What I loved most about this book was the care it took in describing and honoring the Lakota people and their traditions. It also very poignantly talked about the injustices done to Native Americans by the government. My heart aches at the atrocities. Reader beware that this book is very gritty and graphic in nature.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Entertaining tale of crime, power and politics with intentional commentary of systemic challenges that impact Indigenous communities as well as great cultural portraits of some traditional customs and practices.
This book was a page turner! So fascinating to learn about another culture.