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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
This takes place in the days leading up to a planned family gathering to mark 15 years since the loss of a son. The mother fights depression, the father fights Alzheimer’s, the sister fights strange sexual obsessions and the brother fights a battle with drugs. The mother’s narrative is the only one that had any promise, but even that left matters unresolved. The rest was just sad and fell flat. I appreciate the Cherokee symbols interwoven in the story, but I don’t feel it achieved the intended purpose of tying together the narratives.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really mixed feelings about this one. First, I wish I knew a little more background about the Cherokee Indians so that I could further appreciate this book. It wasn’t always enjoyable to read, but I can’t deny how much I kept thinking about the book long after I put it down. The author is so talented and I was I could have appreciated this book to its full potential. However, even if I had understood a little bit more I don’t think that would hide the fact how disjointed some of the book was. I loved the way the Cherokee Myths were interwoven to this story and added to it.
"Beloved son: when I look at the scope of our history, I can see the longing to hold on to people, to keep them close so they don't leave. We were afraid they would depart and never return. I witnessed the removal of our people from our lands. We each have our own stories, which bring us together." - The Removed, Brandon Hobson
As the Echota family approaches the fifteenth anniversary of son and brother Ray-Ray's murder at the hands of law enforcement, the toll of grief and time is stark. Matriarch Maria, struggling to care for husband Ernest as he fades into Alzheimer's, takes in a temporary foster son whose presence seems to keep Ernest's memory loss at bay; oldest daughter Sonja pursues an ill-advised and obsessive relationship with a single father; and youngest son Edgar, lost to addiction and overdosing, finds himself in a strange world known as the Darkening Land - all set against a backdrop of the Cherokee legend and trauma.
Historical context has a heavy hand in tying the separate threads of the Echota family together, from the horror of the Trail of Tears that brought tribal members to Oklahoma in the first place to the modern tragedy of Native people being more likely to be killed at the hands of police than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. While Ray-Ray's death is setting rather than plot for this particular story, it resonates with this moment and the millions of moments that have preceded it in the history of Indigenous peoples in this country.
The reading experience, however, is far more disjointed, each of the four threads reading like concentric, intertangled short stories of different genres - surreal domestic drama; tense sexual thriller; dream logic horror; mythic retelling - and those threads never pulled together for me into a cohesive whole. Really interesting, moving concepts that ended up feeling crowded and under-explored because of the format.
As the Echota family approaches the fifteenth anniversary of son and brother Ray-Ray's murder at the hands of law enforcement, the toll of grief and time is stark. Matriarch Maria, struggling to care for husband Ernest as he fades into Alzheimer's, takes in a temporary foster son whose presence seems to keep Ernest's memory loss at bay; oldest daughter Sonja pursues an ill-advised and obsessive relationship with a single father; and youngest son Edgar, lost to addiction and overdosing, finds himself in a strange world known as the Darkening Land - all set against a backdrop of the Cherokee legend and trauma.
Historical context has a heavy hand in tying the separate threads of the Echota family together, from the horror of the Trail of Tears that brought tribal members to Oklahoma in the first place to the modern tragedy of Native people being more likely to be killed at the hands of police than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. While Ray-Ray's death is setting rather than plot for this particular story, it resonates with this moment and the millions of moments that have preceded it in the history of Indigenous peoples in this country.
The reading experience, however, is far more disjointed, each of the four threads reading like concentric, intertangled short stories of different genres - surreal domestic drama; tense sexual thriller; dream logic horror; mythic retelling - and those threads never pulled together for me into a cohesive whole. Really interesting, moving concepts that ended up feeling crowded and under-explored because of the format.
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Really, this falls in the 3,5 star range for me. The novel is definitely worth your attention, thought, and discussion. It leaves you to decide the ending and what makes sense to you. Some of the writing is proseful and the indigenous lore is intriguing. I personally enjoyed the religion, mysticism and healing that were key to this story of faith, family, and ancestry, but told in the confines of modern living and struggles of a modern indigenous Oklahoman family. The drawbacks for me were the redundancies and repetition. I became bored too tickle for a book I was very interested in. However, there was still enough happening and changing with the characters that I could finish the reading. Many parts were abstract and those were the parts I loved most. While I do. It think this gives you a Ter Ric feel for overall Cherokee culture, I think it does give you glimpses into similarities and differences in beliefs and how we all choose to live.
The Echota family suffers the scars of the police shooting and death of their son, Ray-Ray, years later and in ways they can't even understand. Ernest's Alzheimer's is progressing, Maria is trying to hold them all together, Sonja's vacillates between apathy and fixation, and Edgar's descent into drugs worries the whole family. They plan to have a bonfire on the anniversary of Ray-Ray's murder, also a Cherokee Holiday, and the book weaves their narratives and experiences together.
I normally don't mind multiple viewpoints but it was a bit disjointed for my taste. It was very ambitious and I do not think I comprehended all the different plot points or story threads woven through out, as the references were too fleeting or undeveloped for me to understand. This book was haunting and thought-provoking... but didn't quite make sense as I read it or as I reflect.
Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for providing me an eARC of this book!
I normally don't mind multiple viewpoints but it was a bit disjointed for my taste. It was very ambitious and I do not think I comprehended all the different plot points or story threads woven through out, as the references were too fleeting or undeveloped for me to understand. This book was haunting and thought-provoking... but didn't quite make sense as I read it or as I reflect.
Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for providing me an eARC of this book!
I couldn’t put this one down!! I loved it so much!! The sorrow of the loss of a family member and the observation of how differently individuals handle a tragedy like that. The Cherokee Lore, stories! Tsala (an ancestor), and even some tsalagi words I know, woven together to make this one of my all time favorites!!! Did I mention the Mom (Maria) is a retired social worker?