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A review by moonbites
This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples
4.0
3.5 ⭐️
Though I was left feeling like this story deserved a better ending I was still grateful for the journey. I don't read many stories about the native American experience, this one being specifically centered around the Ojibwe reservation, but I hope to find more in the future. This is also more impactful coming from an ownvoices perspective.
The story is like a winding path. We get the perspective of many different characters who live on this reservation and were in some way connected to the life of a murdered boy. However we follow most closely the main character Marion who is a gay Ojibwe man. I really enjoyed Marion, who was unapologetically himself, but who also seemed cloaked in melancholy. Marion may not be hiding from his sexual identity, rather seems to be removed from his culture.
Seeing Marion's story interweave with the cast of characters with the overarching story of a murder unfolding was a fantastic reading experience. There was a real richness about the story that kept me intrigued. The end of the book is really what made me feel like everything was cut off too soon. I am left feeling so unsatisfied. Though I can guess why Marion does what he does, I wish we could have gotten a closer look into Marion's mind and why he made this decision. The ending line feels so melancholy, I started to wonder how you can fall in love with a place and the people and yet feel sad for it.
But it's better to wake up than fall back asleep in a town with no dreams.
That last line makes me question a lot, leaving me with a heavy heart. Though I am not one to shy away from sad books it makes me wonder what's the point of such a story without a little more hope for the people we have grown so invested in?
It's definitely a book that would be great to dissect and discuss in a group. For such a tiny book it packs a big punch.
Though I was left feeling like this story deserved a better ending I was still grateful for the journey. I don't read many stories about the native American experience, this one being specifically centered around the Ojibwe reservation, but I hope to find more in the future. This is also more impactful coming from an ownvoices perspective.
The story is like a winding path. We get the perspective of many different characters who live on this reservation and were in some way connected to the life of a murdered boy. However we follow most closely the main character Marion who is a gay Ojibwe man. I really enjoyed Marion, who was unapologetically himself, but who also seemed cloaked in melancholy. Marion may not be hiding from his sexual identity, rather seems to be removed from his culture.
Seeing Marion's story interweave with the cast of characters with the overarching story of a murder unfolding was a fantastic reading experience. There was a real richness about the story that kept me intrigued. The end of the book is really what made me feel like everything was cut off too soon. I am left feeling so unsatisfied. Though I can guess why Marion does what he does, I wish we could have gotten a closer look into Marion's mind and why he made this decision. The ending line feels so melancholy, I started to wonder how you can fall in love with a place and the people and yet feel sad for it.
But it's better to wake up than fall back asleep in a town with no dreams.
That last line makes me question a lot, leaving me with a heavy heart. Though I am not one to shy away from sad books it makes me wonder what's the point of such a story without a little more hope for the people we have grown so invested in?
It's definitely a book that would be great to dissect and discuss in a group. For such a tiny book it packs a big punch.