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jhbandcats's review
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is based on a unique and extraordinary concept: it’s 2020 but the Europeans never colonized North America. The people who live in what we call North America are Native Americans, in the way that the people who live in China are Chinese and the people who live in India are Indian. Their culture, clothing, spirituality, food, approach to nature and the land - all are Native American.
But it’s 2020 so there are smartphones, skyscrapers and cities, hydrogen-powered cars, DNA analysis, and other accoutrements of modern technology. The economic system is different, neither capitalist nor communist; the legal system is different, based on atonement rather than punishment and incarceration.
The story, of two murders twenty years apart and the families affected by the deaths, is a fairly typical mystery - there are suspects, red herrings, cops, and evidence - but the setting makes it all novel and compelling. The book describes what, to me at least, is an idealized society where the emphasis is on helping one another and the environment.
Highly recommended. Incredibly thought-provoking.
But it’s 2020 so there are smartphones, skyscrapers and cities, hydrogen-powered cars, DNA analysis, and other accoutrements of modern technology. The economic system is different, neither capitalist nor communist; the legal system is different, based on atonement rather than punishment and incarceration.
The story, of two murders twenty years apart and the families affected by the deaths, is a fairly typical mystery - there are suspects, red herrings, cops, and evidence - but the setting makes it all novel and compelling. The book describes what, to me at least, is an idealized society where the emphasis is on helping one another and the environment.
Highly recommended. Incredibly thought-provoking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, and Grief
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