Scan barcode
A review by giraffefightinggravity
This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples
2.0
The book is sort of about Marion, a gay Ojibwe man, living on/near the reservation he grew up on. He realizes he's being haunted by the ghost of Kayden, a boy who was murdered in high school, when he encounters a ghost dog/wolf. Eventually, he makes contact with Kayden's spirit more directly, and helps him met his daughter, who wasn't yet born when he was killed. Marion is also partially seeing Shannon, a closeted gay man, throughout the book. It ends with Shannon telling him that he's ready to come out of the closet and be with him, and Marion having already decided to leave the reservation.
Along the way, you meet a ton of people. The book has at least five different narrators as it goes, and it's not that long. You learn about some of the struggles they face, from just general life on the reservation or things related to Kayden's death.
The book was an okay read. Having that many narrators made it felt less like this book was supposed to be about Marion and more that it was telling the story of Kayden with a bit of focus on Marion, which is fine but not what I was expecting. You also only got really brief views into some people's lives. In a book where you're meant to get a feeling for the setting more than the characters this would be fine, but since you spend the beginning very focused on Marion, it made their chapters feel sort of unnecessary and felt like the book didn't have an identity.
I felt sad watching Marion pine over Shannon. I understand how that can go, but at some point I did want to shake him and tell him he knows it won't end well. That didn't contribute to my feeling indifferent to the book, but I was sort of proud of him at the end for turning Shannon down.
I think I would have liked this book more if it had focused on Marion and him solving the mystery and maybe fleshed out more of a relationship with Shannon. The book isn't bad, but it's just not my style.
Along the way, you meet a ton of people. The book has at least five different narrators as it goes, and it's not that long. You learn about some of the struggles they face, from just general life on the reservation or things related to Kayden's death.
The book was an okay read. Having that many narrators made it felt less like this book was supposed to be about Marion and more that it was telling the story of Kayden with a bit of focus on Marion, which is fine but not what I was expecting. You also only got really brief views into some people's lives. In a book where you're meant to get a feeling for the setting more than the characters this would be fine, but since you spend the beginning very focused on Marion, it made their chapters feel sort of unnecessary and felt like the book didn't have an identity.
I felt sad watching Marion pine over Shannon. I understand how that can go, but at some point I did want to shake him and tell him he knows it won't end well. That didn't contribute to my feeling indifferent to the book, but I was sort of proud of him at the end for turning Shannon down.
I think I would have liked this book more if it had focused on Marion and him solving the mystery and maybe fleshed out more of a relationship with Shannon. The book isn't bad, but it's just not my style.