thislemonreads 's review for:

Promise Canyon by Robyn Carr

3.0

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OK, my latest trip to Virgin River has kind of given me the icks. The hero is Navajo and the heroine is Hopi. I did some research on the internet and I haven’t been able to find anything that confirms that Robyn Carr is of either Navajo or Hopi heritage or has a connection to either community that could give her some authority to accurately portray Hopi or Navajo people. Maybe she is or does, but I would have loved to have been told that in a foreword or afterword. I had a problem with how “Native men” were physically objectified by other characters and described collectively as a group as “exotic,” “full of hormones” and “too-hot-to-handle.” The “reservation” is mentioned as this sort of idyllic place that they both come from that is steeped in tradition and is some sort of pastoral paradise, with nary a mention of some of the socioeconomic issues that many people on reservation face. The hero of course has “magical” powers to speak to animals and is lauded as a horse whisperer. I could go on. Is it great that a book features indigenous characters and attempts to portray them in a positive light? Absolutely! Loved that the Grace Valley police chief is indigenous, for example. But this book feels like a very superficial and, well, whitewashed, view of what life for Hopi and Navajo people are like.