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There are currently 26 member reviews
for Sisters of the Lost Nation
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Sherry K. (Lufkin, TX)
I Loved This Book
I loved this book. It made my heartbeat faster at times and clutch the book tighter.
The plot revolves around an indigenous American Indian tribe, the Takoda, living in the North American Gulf coast area. The native Takoda comes from the Sioux Nation, the name meaning 'friend to all.' The two main characters are sisters, 17 and 15 and their family living on the rez. Their grandmother also lives with them in their small house. The girls attend school in town and work in shifts as house cleaners at the hotel. The rez standard of living has changed tremendously with the advent of a casino/luxury hotel resort complex built on the reservation. The residents continue to live on the rez in their existing homes but with more money and jobs, life changed. Air conditioning, new appliances, furniture, tools purchased and installed. Their history and stories, carried down through the years, began to fade away, their loss observed by few, mostly elders.
Visitors, tourists, and others crowd the new facilities and along with the guests, the law enforcement was stretched thin resulting in an overload of crimes, petty to major. A lack of funding also played a role in why so many crimes received so little attention or investigation.
Although the novel is fictional, some parts were taken from real occurrences, actual events, and the cold hard numbers from the records of missing and murdered girls and women from Indian reservations across America and Canada. The numbers are shocking and heart-breaking.
This book will keep you on the edge of your seat. You cannot put it down. The characters are so well developed, they are your friends. And the story, the writer tells such a good story you don't want it to end or, possibly, end with a different ending?
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Barbara P. (Mountain Center, CA)
Two Sisters and So Much More
This book will linger with me for a long time. The issues that this books touches are timely and heartbreaking. Anna struggles with who she is, where she is from and who she will become - while trying to understand who others want her to be. Then she is thrown into an alarming and frightening situation in an environment where she should have been safe. The situations in this book mirror life so closely that it is an addictive read at the same time that it makes us uncomfortable and aware of dangers and attitudes in the world we live in. The author's notes read like a continuation of the story and a call for advocacy. I will recommend this book for book clubs and all women.
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Karen S. (Allston, MA)
Two Sisters and All of Their People
I liked this book even more than I expected. The ambitious mix of folklore, telling new stories, and coming of age when you don't fit in, actually worked quite well. Medina created a compelling setting and characters that I cared about, especially the two teenage sisters. Their conflicts and love were very believable. The time shifts in the story could have been annoying, but they were not. The real story of a missing girl from the Blackfeet reservation provides somber context for this modern story, a context that is probably not well known.
I was pleased to see that Medina has written several books and story collections, and I may give one a look, though I do not generally like horror stories. Sisters of the Lost Nation has some elements of a horror story, but is too serious and real to be labelled as such, at least in my opinion.
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Hinterland Woman
It might happen
This novel presented a storyline that touches on a true and present danger here in my state and many others across our country. The book tells a story of behind the scenes life on a fictional reservation and casino and what evils could lurk in the dark of night behind closed doors. The story of an indigenous girl that goes missing and a sister determined to find her. The story line kept me interested in finding out what really happened and why. I recommend this book.
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Pamela W. (Piney Flats, TN)
Topical
In the last couple of years, we've been made more aware of missing Native women. This novel brings that issue to life. Other themes revolve around racial prejudice, gender identity, and acceptance of Native peoples in their own environment.
Initially, I struggled with the style and mysticism, but as I continued reading, I was drawn in by the life/trials/mystery of the protagonist's life and rushed to the resolution.
I would recommend it to friends with the caution re: novice writer. Not Louise Penny, but I was engaged.
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Donna Mc
Native American coming of age and a mystery
Sisters of the Lost Nation is a good read. Anna is a high school senior who is bullied by her classmates, and even her sister, because she doesn’t fit in. She’s fascinated by Tribal stories and traditions and appalled at the cost that modernity in the guise of a casino is imposing on the reservation. And women are disappearing. She is convinced that the disappearances are connected and also related to Tribal myths, and she begins to dig.
The story is ambitious with many peripheral issues. Tribal history and traditions as well as Anna’s response to the awful bullying seem to be overwhelmed by other issues. Ultimately however they are all connected. This could have been a much longer book and still hold the reader’s attention. Thoughtful and thought provoking, Sisters will encourage interest in Tribal life in America.
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Margaret A. (Cornelius, NC)
Sisters of the Lost Nation
This is a coming of age/coming into ones own and much more. The main characters are two Native American teenage sisters and their family living on the reservation. They attend a local school and work in the luxury hotel of a recently built Casino on the reservation.
The story touches on how life on the reservation has changed with money coming in from the casino and how the older sister believes the legends and stories of her people are fading away At the same time the story addresses a hugely important and timely subject of the plight of so many missing and murdered indigenous women
I saw at one point that the story was considered a horror story. I felt it was more a story of the presence of indigenous legends fresh in the mind of the main character and how it shaped her perceptions
This book covers a lot of subjects, some that remain in your thoughts long after the story ends. The only complaint for me was the time frame in each chapter. It is not chronological and was at times difficult to follow That may have more to do with the fact that I had an ebook and not a paperback more than the story itself.
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