A review by gabbygarcia
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"He'd lost someone he built a life with right in the middle of that life. Suddenly, I realized that there was something worse than running, worse than even the schools. There was loss. I'd wait for him to tell me the rest in his own time, if that time ever came, I fell asleep watching the rise and fall of Rose's breaths and tried to imagine us in another time, building instead of running".

This beautiful book. Oh my. It will consume you entirely and you won't be able to put it down until you've finished it. This book is a gift everyone should read. It is devastating and yet so hopeful. The ending! The endingggg!!! 

I would have loved more character development for the secondary characters, though I loved many of the main characters, who were written with such thoughtfulness and were given the space to be whole, imperfect people. Additionally, although I felt deeply entrenched in the world Dimaline created, I was a little disappointed that she did not explore and explain the loss-of-dreaming phenomenon and how the bone marrow stored dreams. 

I was so moved by the realization of the key: dreaming in their heritage language (though I also wish this had been explored further!!). The themes surrounding language loss and that deep, sorrowful need for language and homeland was so immediate and heartwrenching. Beautifully written and woven into the plot.
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