Reviews with content warning for Child death - Indian Burial Ground

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of this novel ever since stumbling across Nick Medina's debut novel, Sisters of the Lost Nation. Medina, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe and a Chicago local, draws upon his native folklore and history to craft mystery thrillers (with a dash of horror) that both incorporate Indigenous culture and raise awareness about contemporary Indigenous struggles. Sisters of the Lost Nation, for example, draws from various Native folktales about a rolling/disembodied head, but also seeks to encourage support and activism for #MMIWG (Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls). Indian Burial Ground, Medina's second book, is a prequel/follow-up to Sisters, but is most accurately a companion novel--readers don't need to read one to understand the other. If you do, there are some wonderful cameos of central and significant characters that readers will welcome like old friends. (Hi, Anna!) This book focuses more on the Takoda Tribe's origin story (starring alligators), with a dash of Coyote, and haunted by a mysterious malevolent entity.

Indian Burial Ground follows Louie and Noemi (first appearing as supporting characters in Sisters) as they navigate life on the rez before and after the establishment of the casino featured in Book One. Louie's story is mostly told in the prequel chapters, and follows his coming-of-age story as he struggles with an alcoholic mother, his role as a teenage uncle (Noemi is his niece), and a tribe that has not yet found financial support. Future adult Noemi, on the other hand, must come to terms with the sudden death (possible suicide) of her boyfriend and the stigma regarding mental health on the rez.

Medina's storytelling masterfully weaves traditional tales with suspense, drawing the reader in while constantly wondering which accounts to believe. Mystery blends with supernatural, leaving the border between reality and imagination blurred: a technique he demonstrated skillfully in Sisters, and which returns in Indian Burial Ground. Medina is also adept at plot twists--even at the very end, the reader is kept on their toes. Will their guess be correct? What element(s) did they miss? While this novel does answer some questions left at the end of Sisters, more remain...but fear not--Medina has already announced plans for a third installment of the series!

Indian Burial Ground is perfect for fans of quick, short chapters; multi-POV narration; and alternating timelines. This is definitely a page-turner focused on humanizing social issues through the lens of individual perspectives. Fans of ambiguous supernatural elements and mythology will enjoy this book, though it is not for the faint of heart. If you enjoy Stephen Graham Jones, Oskar Hokeah, and Killers of the Flower Moon, this is a book for you!

Content Warnings

virgilsinferno's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Equal parts unnerving and emotional, definitely a high recommendation

Content Warnings

kamreadsandrecs's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This wasn’t half-bad, in all honesty. This is the first novel of the author’s that I’ve read, and I kind of wonder if this is set in the same reservation and involves some of the same characters as their first novel, Sisters of the Lost Nation, since both appear to involve the same tribe - which is, apparently, not a “real” tribe, but one that’s heavily based on the author’s own tribe, with other elements pulled from other tribes as well. That last bit is kind of a head-scratcher since I found it kind of strange that they had to do that given their own background, but I guess it means the author’s less restricted in the things they can and can’t use as elements for the story.

My main gripe with this story is the pacing. I thought it was was strange: the constant shifts in POV between the two narrators, which also came along with a switch in time period, did not work wonders for the buildup. Things would get REALLY interesting in one storyline, only for the narrative to haul me back into the other storyline, losing the momentum of the plot I’d originally been engaged with. I personally think that if Louie’s story had been told in one straight block of narrative, instead of being interspersed with Noemi’s throughout the book (maybe Noemi’s story could have been the bookends to Louie’s narrative?), the story would have been more propulsive, but that’s just me.

Despite that gripe though, this was still a fantastic read, especially once things REALLY get going in the novel’s latter third. The author’s use of indigenous folklore and traditions as frames for very modern concerns (specifically: the high rates of suicide and alcoholism among Native Americans) was quite well done, highlighting how the history of colonialism, imperialism, racism, and poverty all come together to form the nightmarish background noise that persists in the lives and psyches of many Native Americans today. The author shows how, for many Native Americans, even if one manages to “make it” and leave to live a “better” life, one’s past always finds a way to come back. Either one finds a healthy way of dealing with it by seeking some kind of help, or one is consumed by it, and dragged down by the dark undertow. And even if one CAN get help (and it must be noted that many, MANY Native Americans aren’t always able to get that), the past will always haunt one, no matter what.

Overall, this was a pretty good horror novel, blending elements of Native American folklore with the real-world horrors of suicide and alcoholism that plague Native Americans up to the present day. However, the way in which the story is told means that the novel tends to break up the overall plot’s forward momentum, which is a pity in my opinion because I think the story would have been spookier and even more tense had the plot been arranged just slightly differently.

Content Warnings