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eve_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Overall Thoughts:
⁕ My own ties to indigenous culture is very minimal, so I am in NO way an expert or authority on these topics, but my personal opinion (as well as the many reviews from own voices readers on Goodreads, etc.) is that this a great introduction to discussing white supremacy and its impact with younger readers. I wish I had books like this in high school instead of Hatchet and To Kill a Mockingbird.
⁕ We get many of the background characters' "coming to" stories, which provided some context to the state of their dystopian society. I admit that I wanted a little more world-building, but I don't think it was necessary to the plot and overall message Dimaline was trying to get across.
⁕ The ending is such a beautiful display of resiliency and hope. I cried and snotted all over the place when I read it.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
⁕ My own ties to indigenous culture is very minimal, so I am in NO way an expert or authority on these topics, but my personal opinion (as well as the many reviews from own voices readers on Goodreads, etc.) is that this a great introduction to discussing white supremacy and its impact with younger readers. I wish I had books like this in high school instead of Hatchet and To Kill a Mockingbird.
⁕ We get many of the background characters' "coming to" stories, which provided some context to the state of their dystopian society. I admit that I wanted a little more world-building, but I don't think it was necessary to the plot and overall message Dimaline was trying to get across.
⁕ The ending is such a beautiful display of resiliency and hope. I cried and snotted all over the place when I read it.
To read my full review, visit: https://evereads.online/
For regular book-related content, follow my Instagram account: @eve_reads
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Violence, Medical trauma, Medical content, Child death, Grief, Child abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, and Racism
nami_lou's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Genocide, and Racism
samuriah's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Sexual violence
Minor: Child abuse and Child death
sophiamoonlight's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Hate crime, and Rape
mae_tbr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual assault
shieldbearer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Really damn good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Colonisation, Genocide, and Grief
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Child abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Gun violence
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
booksthatburn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
THE MARROW THIEVES speculates that, given the opportunity and incentive, settlers would do what they’ve always done and steal the very dreams from the bones of Indigenous people in a last, desperate attempt to save themselves. And it won’t work. It’s not dystopian, nor apocalyptic, but five-minutes-in-the-future speculative fiction because the necessary backstory is the real history that’s already happened. The “generic dystopia” version would include a factory tour and a lot more gore, rather than this (much better) story of a community trying to stay together. It’s wholly uninterested in gazing at the machinery of pain, but is focused on community, memory, and surviving long enough to have a chance at thriving.
The term "found family" is both accurate and inadequate for the character relationships. They're the remnants of a much larger and more complex community which was hunted, shattered, and even now is pursued. They were part of a community generally even before they found each other specifically, and now they're all they have left. Frenchie lost his parents before the novel opens, and loses his brother in the opening chapter. He finds a group of traveling Indigenous people, on the move in order to stay alive. I like Miig as a leader, he's doing his best and focusing on teaching the younger ones what they'll need to know. He and Minerva are working to pass on their culture, balancing the need to understand with the maturity of the individual children.
A lot of the worldbuilding is conveyed though stories, either “Story” told nightly by Miig, or the characters’ “creation stories”, each person’s own history of how they came to be with the group. It lends a ponderous air to these details, where the reader’s desire to know more synchronizes with Frenchie’s hunger for any scrap of connection he can get. From the premise, I anticipated a scene in the factories, detailing the dystopia through voyeuristic gaze into the mechanisms used to cause their suffering. It doesn’t do that, thankfully, it stays focused on the characters, their journey, and their community. The physical bits of worldbuilding are in the places they pass through, the abandoned structures, and the garbage on the ground, the detritus that marks the wreckage of the world that was and the dangerous other people who also inhabit it.
I love the way the plot is unhurried. The endless travel is devoid of meaningful landmarks except for detritus. The pivotal scenes mostly hinge either on encounters with others or from stories. This changes toward the end after an encounter irrevocably changes the status quo and prompts them to change how they're running. I love the ending, it would be the best part if not for how great the rest of the book is.
The term "found family" is both accurate and inadequate for the character relationships. They're the remnants of a much larger and more complex community which was hunted, shattered, and even now is pursued. They were part of a community generally even before they found each other specifically, and now they're all they have left. Frenchie lost his parents before the novel opens, and loses his brother in the opening chapter. He finds a group of traveling Indigenous people, on the move in order to stay alive. I like Miig as a leader, he's doing his best and focusing on teaching the younger ones what they'll need to know. He and Minerva are working to pass on their culture, balancing the need to understand with the maturity of the individual children.
A lot of the worldbuilding is conveyed though stories, either “Story” told nightly by Miig, or the characters’ “creation stories”, each person’s own history of how they came to be with the group. It lends a ponderous air to these details, where the reader’s desire to know more synchronizes with Frenchie’s hunger for any scrap of connection he can get. From the premise, I anticipated a scene in the factories, detailing the dystopia through voyeuristic gaze into the mechanisms used to cause their suffering. It doesn’t do that, thankfully, it stays focused on the characters, their journey, and their community. The physical bits of worldbuilding are in the places they pass through, the abandoned structures, and the garbage on the ground, the detritus that marks the wreckage of the world that was and the dangerous other people who also inhabit it.
I love the way the plot is unhurried. The endless travel is devoid of meaningful landmarks except for detritus. The pivotal scenes mostly hinge either on encounters with others or from stories. This changes toward the end after an encounter irrevocably changes the status quo and prompts them to change how they're running. I love the ending, it would be the best part if not for how great the rest of the book is.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Genocide
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Murder, Death, Rape, Gun violence, Cannibalism, and Child death
Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Ableism, Excrement, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, Confinement, Vomit, and Death of parent
thazell's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Once, the residential schools then now everyone wants them dead for their bone marrow which holds dreams. In a dreamless, dystopian society the recruiters will stop at nothing to hunt down the Indigenous people for their bone marrow. This book is a reference to the residential schools and the discrimination Indigenous people face in the modern-day through a fictional lens. It’s heart-wrenching. We follow Frenchie as he meets his new found family and struggles to deal with grief while on a constant run for survival. They try to live, not just survive. The story has lots of the Indigenous teachings wrapped inside of it, like smudging, and even though they are being hunted for that very side of them, they continue to learn and practice it. They do not give up their Indigenous side no matter what. The characters are strong and find meaning within each other to continue to survive, to smile and laugh. I was in tears by the end of the book, it holds so much meaning and grief and love. Stories like this need to be told, let those who are suffering find strength in the fact that you are not alone; your stories are being told.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual assault
Minor: Child abuse and Child death
leio_vaasi_read's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, and Racism
Moderate: Rape
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Rape