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A review by annemaries_shelves
Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a really solid debut short story collection, however I didn't love it like I thought I would.
Part of it probably was my incorrect expectation that there would be speculative elements, when it was actually a contemporary setting (that incorporated Penobscot Nation worldviews).
I really enjoyed actively reading the stories but found it easy to put down and I wasn't super motivated to pick it up every time. The writing was clear and strong and I think Talty will continue to improve and grow as a writer. My main issue with the collection is the sometimes confusing timeline. Because he opted to shuffle the order of stories out of linear time, it took a while to place each one when it was happening in our main character, David's, life. His character work was excellent, though, and even through limited third person persctive, I got a good sense of who each person in David's life was. I was rooting so much for David and his friends and family but things never really improved - frustrating but oftentimes realistic.
Overall, I don't think this will be a collection that sticks with me strongly (it's been a few days and I'm already losing details) but I will definitely keep an eye out for future works by Talty. I think this will work for a lot of people though, and encourage readers to seek it out if contemporary short stories tackling the lives of Indigenous (Penobscot) families and young men is of interest.
CW: The book came with a sticker for references to death, self-harm, and childhood trauma. I would also include on-page interrupted rape, drug use (especially prescription meds) and alcohol use, and infant death.
Part of it probably was my incorrect expectation that there would be speculative elements, when it was actually a contemporary setting (that incorporated Penobscot Nation worldviews).
I really enjoyed actively reading the stories but found it easy to put down and I wasn't super motivated to pick it up every time. The writing was clear and strong and I think Talty will continue to improve and grow as a writer. My main issue with the collection is the sometimes confusing timeline. Because he opted to shuffle the order of stories out of linear time, it took a while to place each one when it was happening in our main character, David's, life. His character work was excellent, though, and even through limited third person persctive, I got a good sense of who each person in David's life was. I was rooting so much for David and his friends and family but things never really improved - frustrating but oftentimes realistic.
Overall, I don't think this will be a collection that sticks with me strongly (it's been a few days and I'm already losing details) but I will definitely keep an eye out for future works by Talty. I think this will work for a lot of people though, and encourage readers to seek it out if contemporary short stories tackling the lives of Indigenous (Penobscot) families and young men is of interest.
CW: The book came with a sticker for references to death, self-harm, and childhood trauma. I would also include on-page interrupted rape, drug use (especially prescription meds) and alcohol use, and infant death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Rape
Minor: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Violence, and Medical content