A review by specificwonderland
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

STRONG START TO 2025! 

One of my 2025 goals is to source more things for myself and stop letting the general pop make my recommendations. So I found this book in a comments section of what else is like Demon Copperhead. 

This book reminded me of many books I enjoyed, the most recent of which is in fact Demon Copperhead. I also got vibes of The Jungle (extreme capitalism and poverty), Grapes of Wrath (dust bowl Hoovervilles), & The Goldfinch. The revival also reminded me of the show Carnivale. It's a fraught tale of two brothers and their misfit friends enduring hell at an Indian School in Lincoln, Neb in the 1920s. 

I was rooting for these characters and I enjoyed the scenery changes where we kept getting fresh characters and new plot points. I loved Odie's way to storytelling and how the kids had to trust their instincts about whether someone was a friend or foe. It really was a good blend of plot and character development. 

I laughed at the acknowledgements when he thanked Caribou saying this book wouldn't be possible without them 🤣 

A deserved 5 star book if you liked any of the above mentioned books. I also tagged it as a doorstopper even though it was "only" 450 pages. There was an afterword, then acknowledgments, then discussion questions and then a preview of another book so I'm counting it.