Reviews - The Marrow Thieves

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3.47k reviews for:

The Marrow Thieves

Cherie Dimaline

4.09 AVERAGE

zwamp_witch's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A hyperbolic analogy of the commodification of indigenous people and their land. The "dreamless" literally harvest marrow from indigenous peoples for a medicine that is never clear if it works

Content Warnings

punkypossum's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

cats123306's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional

helenamt's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

ltaranto's review against another edition

5.0

With a premise that serves as a highly appropriate, contemporary cautionary tale, Dimaline delivers! Frenchie, a Métis teen flees for survival in a post apocalyptic Canada. In this alternate world, the Indigenous population is harvested for their bone marrow, which the rest of the world steals to help them dream, having lost the ability to do so on their own. Frenchie and the survivors he meets desperately flee North where they hope to eke out a living in hiding. But, in an inevitable confrontation with the recruiters hunting them, they discover the magnitude of their own power to fight back. One of the things I most enjoyed about this book was that even though Frenchie is the main protagonist, the other characters all have stories as deep and epic in scope as his own. And the chosen one trope is overturned in a way that hits all the feels.

quadrille's review against another edition

3.0

A post-apocalyptic world of environmental destruction and YA dystopia, seen through the lens of a Native American protagonist — and in which both indigenous culture & identity are at risk and preyed upon, but also the key to it all. It’s refreshing having such an entirely diverse cast of characters (some mixed-race), and in which their culture and language is so important to the narrative as well. The residential schools and language erasure is a massive blow against Native populations, and Dimaline manages to work its significance into the plot in a touching way. Her prose is really solid, too. I love the found-family dynamic of the main group of characters, the casual synchronicity between all of them, the details of their survival in this ruined world.

But: rating docked because of some absolutely infuriating diversions with a last-minute love triangle and contrived romantic drama, and the main character Frenchie wound up getting on my nerves over and over once he started leaning into Dumb Boy Behaviour. And the ending/climax is fairly rushed and inconclusive. It felt like there could have been a bigger-scope story here that didn’t get to finish. Not that I need everything to be a grand tale of yearslong war & revolution? But, idk, I just wanted a bit more. 3.5 stars.

foresttrillium's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Gut-Wrenching and Hopeful

This YA dystopian novel is one of the best things I’ve read all year. Brilliantly crafted, it ripped my heart out over and over again, and yet, the threads of resilience and hope are so artfully woven through that while you mourn, you never despair. The last chapter had me sobbing like a baby in the best, most joyous way. I’m crying a little now just writing this.

Read this book. It has five damn medals on the cover for a reason.