What readers think of A Council of Dolls, plus links to write your own review.

Having a great interest in the Native American culture, I was looking forward to reading A Council of Dolls. Beginning Part 1, I started to lose concentration and considered stopping. However, I continued and began to find each part more involved in the story of the dolls and the significance of each one. The symbolism applied to so many things was fascinating. The attempt to erase all culture from children and the loss of Indigenous people from many tribes was horrifying. By the last part the stories all came together in a good way. The words of wisdom by the author at the end was awe inspiring!! I'm glad I read this book but suggest that it be read twice to grasp all that was so important to their many lives.

This book tells an interesting story of girls and their special relationship with the dolls they own who counsel, comfort, and protect them. Certain elements of the story are repetitive without further information to move the plot. Part four, for example, could stand alone because it seems like the same story but through the dolls eyes which mostly we already know. Couldn't Jesse's resolution been folded into her chapter? The added characters add little. Maybe it's just my flaw but also characters names were confusing. Ina, is that a Dakota word for grandmother? Because grandmothers name was Cora. Then there's Sissy-Jesse, who has many names in between, maybe "less is more"?