A review by kimveach
The Removed by Brandon Hobson

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This is a very different sort of book but I ended up liking it. Parts of it are a straightforward plot about a family is trying to heal from a tragedy. Another part includes an ancestor talking about The Trail of Tears' removal of the Cherokees from their land. And the last part is about the living son's struggles with drug addiction but is told as a visit to a "darkening land".

I didn't understand all of it while I was reading it. I wish I had read this article from NPR first:  
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/02/963361391/author-brandon-hobson-on-his-new-novel-the-removed

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Murder, Vomit, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Grief, Gun violence, Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Genocide, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Violence, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts