⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡'𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚'𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙩𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙩.

📍 Read if you like:
• Supernatural Horror Elements
• Native Folklore
• Dual Timelines
• Indigenous Communities

I had absolutely no idea what to expect going into this book. I just knew it had horror elements and followed a young Native girl on the search to solve the mystery of the disappearances in the community.

This book was so moving and incredibly eerie + atmospheric. It does have thriller & horror elements - and they’re very suspenseful. I was immediately intrigued by the Indigenous community and the native folklore.

We also get two timelines, which I did find confusing at first. However, once I knew what was going on, I was invested in the story. The characters were interesting - they did make some decisions and comments I didn’t love.

It was so heart-wrenching reading about missing Indigenous women. I think this story was a perfect representation of the harsh reality of indigenous communities.

I would highly recommend this book just for the beautifully crafted story and the Native folklore.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley for the review copies in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Death, racism, bullying, murder, sexual violence, addiction

Absolutely wonderful read. Sisters of the Lost Nation is an excellent thriller based on a fictional reservation in Louisiana. The characters are engaging and well-rounded, and the setting is well-established and explored. In addition to this, this book is a brilliant exploration into issues that tribes today do actually face. The numbers of missing or murdered Indigenous women grow every day with little attention from law enforcement. Medina does a good job of digging into this real issue and exposing real struggles through a fictional lens.

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina is a captivating and powerful story that will definitely leave you hooked. I really enjoyed this story and getting to know Nick Medina's writing style, which has definitely made me want to read more of what he writes in the future! I think stories featuring Native issues and culture are much needed in the fiction world so I was glad to see this book and really loved getting to know all of these characters. The characterization in particular was incredibly well done and I really felt myself connecting to our protagonist and the struggles she endures. The pacing felt wonderfully consistent throughout and I never really felt my attention wavering due to the effortless flow of the story. Overall, a highly recommended read!

I ended up having the pleasure of reading and listening to Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina with cover design by Ashley Suttor. I honestly can't pick a better format, I enjoyed them both equally.

When I mentioned hard hitting, I wasn't lying. Medina intertwines the folklore of a Native tribe and the heart-wrenching truth of the multitudes of missing indigenous women that goes unsolved across the nation. It's a mixture of mystery, horror and brutal truth.

Anna is a well crafted character. She moves through life one struggle after another just trying to make it through and be understood. Bullying from the kids in school, politics of the tribe, her sister's cold shoulder and a job that comes with hidden secrets. All of which skyrockets when her sister goes missing.

I felt so many mixed emotions towards the characters, their actions and even their behaviors. Medina paints such a vivid tapestry of Native culture. The addition of the disembodied spirit that haunts Anna was an interesting touch that took a minute to adjust too. When the final chapter closes in, the lore and the plot come together with powerful meaning. The audio is read by Elva Guerra and the author. I enjoyed the feeling that was put into the narration and the atmospheric tension that builds.

Novels like this that bring to light the harsh realities of this world and the unspoken horrors that plague the indigenous communities should be read and cherished. I want to share a few important resources provided by the author with my followers:

🔥Native Hope ( www.nativehope.org )
🔥Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women ( www.csvanw.org )
🔥MMIW USA ( mmiwusa.org )
🔥Native Women’s Wilderness ( www.nativewomenswilderness.org )

This one was just ok for me. Anna, our protagonist, is looking for answers about why there are missing girls from her reservation which is a fictional tribe. I felt from the beginning it was rather predictable and therefore it became kind of a chore to get through. Again, nothing particularly wrong about it but absolutely nothing new or fresh or interesting. Having a fictional tribe even further distanced me from the story too. This book just didn't capture my attention and the audio was really not great- the narrator's voice sounded like it was on the verge of cracking the entire time (to my ears) and it felt very amateur . Can't recommend on audio.

Quick Synopsis from the front cover:  A young Native girl’s hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe’s reservation leads her to delve into myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself. 

What I loved: 
✨The story itself - such an important story to read, acknowledge, and help spread its truth. The mystery is compelling; their reality is brutal.  
✨Our MC -  Anna embraces her Two Spirit. In the face of bullying, she maintains her strong will while searching for what’s right and just. I don’t know if I’ve ever had more respect for a teenage MC than Anna. She is beautifully written. 
✨Native Folklore - full of stories, legends, and imagery woven into the mystery. Hauntingly beautiful!!  One of my favorite stories  is  “The Tale of Two Sisters.” We need more fiction that includes this folklore. 

Who should read this:
✨Looking for Indigenous representation
✨Mystery lovers - especially ones based on true stories.  
✨Folklore lovers

✨ Review ✨ Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

This was a really moving blend of mystery/thriller and light horror. Anna Horn, an Indigenous teen, works at the local casino hotel, attends high school, and spends time with her family. Quickly, however, Anna becomes aware of something problematic happening in the hotel, and Indigenous girls are going missing. When her sister Grace goes missing, Anna and her family investigate, in hopes of finding her before it's too late.

Medina, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, brings his appreciation of Indigenous mythology by threading myths through the book along with the horrifying rolling head that's rumored to roll around the tribal land. In order to avoid placing blame or problems on any one tribe, he creates a fictional tribe for this book, and brings together several myths and ways of knowing. 

This book engages the reader while shining light on the very real problem of Indigenous women going missing or being murdered. Very little media attention has been given to this issue, and he seeks to inform the reader and raise attention for this cause. I really appreciated how he did this in this book.

Note, because this book operates with a dual timeline, it can be a little tricky to follow sometimes if you listen to the audio version. Once I figured out the pattern, it worked for me, but it might not for everyone.

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Genre: mystery/thriller, horror
Setting: fictional tribal land in Louisiana
Pub Date: 18 Apr 2023

Thanks to Berkley and #netgalley for advanced copies of this book!

When I read the blurb of #sistersofalostnation
I knew I had to read it 🖤

Blurb: "A young Native girl's hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe's reservation lead her to delve into the myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself, in this atmospheric and stunningly poignant debut.

Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder. For the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation’s casino…and for the nameless, disembodied entity that stalks her every step—an ancient tribal myth come-to-life, one that’s intent on devouring her whole.

With strange and sinister happenings occurring around the casino, Anna starts to suspect that not all the horrors on the reservation are old. As girls begin to go missing and the tribe scrambles to find answers, Anna struggles with her place on the rez, desperately searching for the key she’s sure lies in the legends of her tribe’s past.

When Anna’s own little sister also disappears, she’ll do anything to bring Grace home. But the demons plaguing the reservation—both ancient and new—are strong, and sometimes, it’s the stories that never get told that are the most important.

Part gripping thriller and part mythological horror, author Nick Medina spins an incisive and timely novel of life as an outcast, the cost of forgetting tradition, and the courage it takes to become who you were always meant to be."

🖤

The way @nickmedinawrites tells this story is captivating. It was a real pageturner. Slow and atmospheric at the beginning, the pace went quicker and quicker. The chapters are short, jumping between different times and like a jigsaw, we can solve the Mystery.

I also loved the character of Anna who is afraid of a lot of things, bullied at school, labelled the "outcast" but finally faces her own demons. Subtle, the author describes her as embodying both female and male parts - a great blessing to the community.

A huge recommendation for #sistersofalostnation 🖤

Sisters of the Lost Nation is a suspense/thriller novel with horror overtones. Anna, who lives on a reservation in Louisiana, is searching or her sister Grace- who has mysteriously gone missing after a night in a hotel room.

The first half of the novel jumps back and forth in time- building the world around Anna and her relationship with her sister Grace- while also showing the start of the hunt for the missing Grace. The second half is for more linear, but also more fantastical.

I really enjoyed this novel. While there were moments at the beginning where the non-linear narrative left me a little confused, the book presents a full world and Anna's journey is compelling.

Excellent coming of age story. Living on the reservation is difficult for 2 sisters. Poor and not excepted in the local public school you find yourself wishing them a better life. A the older works at the resort on the reservation as a housekeeper. She is told not to go to the 8th floor when she begins. She later is told she will clean that floor when special guests leave.

There have been 3 missing girls and the native police get little help from the town police. Anna becomes involved when her sister Grace disappears. Working with Luke the reservation policeman she uses her skills too. Search for her sister. She has skills related to being a shaman that her Grandmother helps her CCDPT.

the mystery as well as the culture of the story provide a solid read with an understanding of Native life in todays world. Recommend for mature teens and adults

This is definitely one of those books that I'll probably need more time to fully process my thoughts on. I loved the premise, and this is an important narrative that I'm glad to see highlighted more. The ending felt maybe a little abrupt, but overall I found it to be an engrossing read.

Nick Medina’s debut novel isn’t just about missing girls, ghost stories, and Native American culture - it shines a small light on a huge issue plaguing our nation. Don’t let the “horror” classification deter you from reading this one. The inclusion of a classic Native ghost story is likely what places it in this genre but I found it to be so much more. It’s a heartbreaking tale of fiction unfortunately based in truth.

I swapped back and forth between the digital and audio versions and enjoyed them both. The narrator did a wonderful job voicing all the different emotions for each character. The timeline is unique as it flips back and forth between before and after Grace goes missing. Both timelines progress through part 1 and then converge in part 2. This can be confusing if you’re not paying attention to the chapter titles but once you get a hang of each timeline, it’s easy to become immersed in this book. I do have to give kudos to the author for doing such an amazing job giving strong voices to Native American women.

In summary, I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a story with a deeper meaning. Definitely read the author’s note on this one because he gives more insight on why he wrote this book.

I tore through this book in a day. This was a dark atmospheric, mystery set on a reservation. Anna is struggling. She is being bullied at school. She works at the casino on the reservation and she feels like there is an ancient tribal myth that has come to life stalking her. Girls begin to go missing on the reservation, including her own sister. I don’t want to say too much to give away the mystery but I really enjoyed this one. This book has equal parts mystery as it does mythical horror. I would be all in on this as a tv series. 
.

Huge thank you to @berkleypub  @prhaudio and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is not a new issue to me. I’m a volunteer at our regional theater and one of the theaters in the building has a lot of premiere plays. One of those plays not long before the pandemic brought recognition to the missing native american women. There was even an installation around the grounds of red dresses to draw even further attention.

So I jumped on the chance to read this. It took me many pages to connect with the story. I’m not really sure what the cause was, but I do wish it happened sooner. Had I not received an advanced copy for review, I might have set it aside. I’m glad I didn’t because it is a really good and powerful story. In addition to the young girls that go missing in this book, it also addresses how native americans address two spirited people. While not exactly the equivalent of transgender, the native americans’ two spirits are able to do both traditional male and female jobs of the tribe. And while they are admired for this, they are less accepted when it becomes about sexual preference instead of abilities. I always love to read through a character’s eyes that allows me to see another side of the world. Anna is both native american and two spirited. I was able to walk a little while in her shoes.

By the end of this one I was gripped by the story and even had a tear in my eye at the end of the author’s note. An observation that this one is listed as horror and while I do believe it shows the horrors of the world we live in, it is not what most would consider a horror story.

This is one of the more unique books I’ve read this year and definitely think it is worth the read if you are looking for something a little bit different.

In Sisters of the Lost Nation, Nick Medina has created a novel that is emotional and dramatic. The voice is authentic and real, presenting readers with a novel that presents the truth about the plight of Native women in a way that is beautiful, heartbreaking and yet hopeful. The character of Anna is incredibly engaging as she tries to discover what has happened about her sister and learns to accept herself. 

I love the focus on heritage, on both the past and how to move forward into the future without losing the stories and voices of the past. I love the respect for the elders in the culture and while the tribe in the story is not a real one, it incorporates all the truest elements from real tribes and remains authentic in its voice. I also found the search for the missing girls, the coldness of the white society, and the struggles of Native people incredibly real and compelling, revealing truths white people need to see. 

If you love drama and mystery, mythology and authenticity, I recommend reading this book. Nick Medina’s novel is timely, emotional and dramatic. The characters are engaging and compelling. The aspects of heritage and two spirits are well written and intriguing. The novel is moving and reveals truths that most readers should hear.

After the disappearance of her sister, Grace, Anna looks into the missing women of her reservation. This leads to some revelations regarding the modernization of her tribal community and the fight against drug use, abuse, and human trafficking. The story is gritty. I mean this in the most complimentary of ways. It's organic, hard and gets between your teeth. The book as a whole reads as a thriller. The author also notes that there are a lot of triggers in the story. If you are sensitive  to drug use, death, abuse, racism, bullying, and more in stories, this might be one book to avoid. 

Overall, I really liked the story. The characters are really well written as well. Anna grows through the progression of the book. The only issue that I struggled with was that the story jumps around in time. The chapters are labelled well to explain where in the time line the story takes place, but I felt the story would have actually benefited with being written chronologically. Other than that, I loved that Medina drew on the struggles of the indigenous people of today. The author's note at the end did a lot to explain the issues and more that are mirrored in the book. This might even be a re-read for me now that I have this information. I think I might even gain more from the story with this knowledge added to my perspective.

Anna Horn is a teenage member of the Takoka Tribe, who lives on the reservation in Louisiana with her family. The kids go off the reservation to school in the town, where she is bullied by kids of other races. Anna also works at the reservation casino as a maid after school to make money. A young Takoda man named Fox asks her to become part of his team at the hotel connected to the casino. They clean certain rooms, especially those on the eighth floor. Anna begins to see things happening on that floor, especially suite 808. Some young women brought there have vanished. She agrees to work there in hopes of finding out why, especially when her  sister vanishes too.

Sisters of the Lost Nation kept me hooked. If you enjoy Native American stories and mysteries with a bit of possible supernatural, this will spin an interesting yarn about a different kind of YA heroine who may be what many tribes considered “two spirits.” It will take both spirits within Anna to solve the mystery and fight the danger.

It's important to know going into this book that it is neither a thriller nor a horror novel, although it sometimes has elements of those. It's more of a coming-of-age story for a girl mired in the trauma of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Meanwhile, this girl is also living in fear of a rolling disembodied head that's out there somewhere. It's a slow build, and I didn't love the timeline jumping, but it really nailed the ending. I loved thinking about the way stories change people, what the purpose of storytelling is, and what things can be true about monster stories even if you're not sure if the monster is real or not.

I want to preface this by saying I would still try future books by this writer. The writing itself was engaging, as was the story. For me personally, the chronological jumping around made it hard to follow, and I quickly lost interest in the story. I felt like there was a lot of redundancy within the storytelling. I was very interested in reading the plot and reading an Indigenous writer. It's clear Nick Medina is very talented. I felt the story dragged on, and it did not hold my attention.

I could NOT put this down. I had some trouble with the back and forth timeline to start, but this was ultimately a riveting look at how drugs, violence, and greed can affect tightly knit communities like the fictional Takoda Native American tribe in the novel. Sisters of the Lost Nation tells a heartwrenching story of family love, loss, and persevering and finding your identity in times of tragedy, and serves up a devastating look at the crisis striking Native American communities across the nation: missing girls and women who are overlooked by the justice system.