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greenlivingaudioworm 's review for:
Winter Counts
by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
"Sadness is like an abandoned car left out in a field for good - it changes a little over the years, but doesn't ever disappear. You may forget about it for a while, but it's still there, rusting away, until you notice it again."
Winter Counts has been on my radar for some time now. Every now and then I love a good thriller and I especially love thrillers that feature new stories/perspectives for me. Thrillers from an indigenous point of view? Sign me up. On top of being a thriller, this book offered me some new information about what life is like for indigenous folks. In this case, I learned about the justice system and what that often looks like for indigenous folks. Since crimes committed on reservations cannot be tried by the American justice system, it has to be handled by the tribal council. Often, these folks know each other so "true" justice doesn't happen. That's when Virgil Wounded Horse comes in. He delivers his own punishment which often results in some incredibly violent and bloody encounters.
Virgil knows there are drugs on the reservation but it isn't until heroin reaches Virgil's nephew that Virgil takes an interest in figuring out what is happening. Virgil seeks out his ex-girlfriend and the two of them start to uncover where the drugs are coming from and work to make them stop coming to his reservation. Their search takes them to Denver and back. More is uncovered the longer they search - and their search just yields more unknowns, danger, and questions.
I liked the perspective of this book and I especially loved that we got to learn more about what it's like living on an indigenous reservation in today's world. Rampant drug and alcohol use with very little money makes life dark and difficult yet you can see glimpses of what could be for some of these characters. I think going into this book I was expecting more of a mystery and while there was definitely a mystery with this story, it's more of a thriller. Even as a novice mystery reader, I was able to guess the ending and for that, that made this reading experience slightly less enjoyable for me. I would definitely recommend this one for adult readers who want to know more about what life is like for indigenous folks today.
TW: violence, police injustice/brutality, drug use, addiction, assault, murder, death, rape (mentioned), poverty, suicidal ideology
Winter Counts has been on my radar for some time now. Every now and then I love a good thriller and I especially love thrillers that feature new stories/perspectives for me. Thrillers from an indigenous point of view? Sign me up. On top of being a thriller, this book offered me some new information about what life is like for indigenous folks. In this case, I learned about the justice system and what that often looks like for indigenous folks. Since crimes committed on reservations cannot be tried by the American justice system, it has to be handled by the tribal council. Often, these folks know each other so "true" justice doesn't happen. That's when Virgil Wounded Horse comes in. He delivers his own punishment which often results in some incredibly violent and bloody encounters.
Virgil knows there are drugs on the reservation but it isn't until heroin reaches Virgil's nephew that Virgil takes an interest in figuring out what is happening. Virgil seeks out his ex-girlfriend and the two of them start to uncover where the drugs are coming from and work to make them stop coming to his reservation. Their search takes them to Denver and back. More is uncovered the longer they search - and their search just yields more unknowns, danger, and questions.
I liked the perspective of this book and I especially loved that we got to learn more about what it's like living on an indigenous reservation in today's world. Rampant drug and alcohol use with very little money makes life dark and difficult yet you can see glimpses of what could be for some of these characters. I think going into this book I was expecting more of a mystery and while there was definitely a mystery with this story, it's more of a thriller. Even as a novice mystery reader, I was able to guess the ending and for that, that made this reading experience slightly less enjoyable for me. I would definitely recommend this one for adult readers who want to know more about what life is like for indigenous folks today.
TW: violence, police injustice/brutality, drug use, addiction, assault, murder, death, rape (mentioned), poverty, suicidal ideology