Now is the time when people are FINALLY paying attention to the horrific attempt at genocide by the Canadian government when Indigenous children were torn from their homes and forced to attend "Residential Schools."

Now is the time to read more Indigenous literature and to begin the process of Reconciliation. Books such as "Heart Berries" are the perfect introduction to this long neglected segment of the Canadian population.

HEART BERRIES is worth every one of the 5 STARS I am rating it as. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book.

The phrase “poetic memoir” immediately sold me on Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot, the story of a Native American woman growing up on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest, and what it is like to overcome a difficult upbringing only to face your own struggles with mental illness and motherhood. Heart Berries is told in a series of essays, and although I listened to the audiobook I highly recommend that you stick to the paper copy instead, since I had a hard time following that way. Mailhot’s storytelling is stream of conciseness and filled with beautiful phrases and emotional impact. Heart Berries is a story of survival filled with honesty, metaphor, from an important and emerging voice. I certainly hope to read more from Mailhot in the future.

I found this book both inspiring and traumatic. At first, I found it a little difficult in form But then I quite soon was held captive by the sheer power and poetry of the author's prose. Still, it is not an easy story to read - perhaps especially for someone like me who lives in the same area (Vancouver, BC). We must do better in our support of First Nations peoples. I highly recommend this book.
My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for the advance reader copy of this book. I was so excited to receive it as I am very interested in learning more about our Indigenous people.howvever this book and it’s style was deinfetely not me. I can certainly see why some people love it but I just couldn’t really get through it .

This poetic memoir deconstructs Indigenous stereotypes, as Terese Marie Mailhot disrupts what her narrative should look like, re-imagining personal sovereignty on her own terms!