This was a really interesting book for me. I am going to put it before our book club this summer because I really think they're going to love it. Thank you so much for the chance to read it early.

Thank you for giving us an early look at THE REMOVED through the BookPerk newsletter! I can't wait to devour this over the holiday break. Have a safe and happy rest of 2020!

THE REMOVED is perfect for fans of literary fiction. Hobson moves deftly between the four point-of-view characters and I enjoyed their different perspectives. The time-bending narrative flows easily and is not overly complicated. The writing has a lovely dream-like quality. While not particularly fast-paced, the plot is interesting. I kept turning pages to find out whether this family would emerge from their grief--and if so, how. Finally, I especially enjoyed the folklore elements. I look forward to more books by this author.

A novel told from different points of view (a favorite literary device for me). Interspersed with Native American folklore, and dealing with issues of racism, family, and community.

I found this book overall enjoyable, and reminiscent of my earlier read this year, Sharks in the Time of Saviors. The themes of families who love each other but are torn apart by trauma, whether recent or generational, finding connection again through their culture and spirituality. At times, I felt the parallels were a bit too blatant, and I wondered if the author was simply a bit too obvious, or if he felt the audience wouldn't pick up on the obviousness. The book certainly left me wondering more about what aspects of the book were autobiographical, or from the author's family. The novel dealt with heavy topics, such as police brutality, revenge vs. forgiveness, and the genocide of Native Americans by U.S. soldiers and leaders in a way which felt both brutal and truthful, which was part of the reason I found myself wondering more about the author's personal background. The writing simply wasn't consistently "wow" enough for me to leave four stars - the multiple POVs all had characters with similar voices/stylistic markers, and at times I found myself confused and rereading portions that I think could have been clarified more easily.

I did like Brandon Hobson's first book Where the Dead Sit Talking but there were small points on the story that distracted me, and probably made that novel not stand out for me the way it could have. (I still think that it was ridiculous not to bring up the Indian Child Welfare Act at any point in the book.) I only requested an ARC through Netgalley because of course, I always want to read Native authors, especially when they teach at my parents alma matter, the Institute of American Indian Arts.

The Removed is the Brandon Hobson reading experience I was promised with Where the Dead Sit Talking. It is a beautiful, enthralling story of a modern day Cherokee family dealing their grief after the police shooting of their teenage son. The book draws very subtle, but very poignant parallels between current government sanctioned murder of young men of color by police, and past government sanctioned murder of Indigenous tribes by the United States army. Today they call it justified police shooting, two hundred years ago they called it relocation. In promotional materials much is made of the fact that Brandon Hobson writes about Cherokee legends and beliefs, and doesn't that make for a masterpiece? I was cringing before I even started reading, but the legends and beliefs are written as simply part of the story, not an esoteric lesson to hit me over the head with. Hobson uses these (so-called by non-Native publishing employees) legends to help tell an allegory of a family who will never stop suffering from the trauma they experience first hand, and the trauma of past generations. It's a dreamlike novel (much like Where the Dead Sit Talking) that makes you question the reality of it all, even as you are faced with the harsh truths that this family deal with on a daily basis.

The story revolves around an approaching anniversary where the family plans to get together to honor the memory of their dead brother Ray-Ray. Sonja is struggling with a relationship with a man who isn't what she hoped, Maria and Ernest are coming out of their depression and Alzheimer's complications to learn to love a foster child, and Edgar is dealing with his drug addiction in New Mexico. Despite their problems, the characters are gentle and kind to each other, even if they aren't kind to themselves. They allow the spirits to walk them carefully through their pains, as they know the spirits have experienced similar pains and have gained knowledge from it even in death. Maria, Sonja, and Edgar narrate their own pieces of learning to live with their pain, and their story is interspersed with that of Tsala, a Cherokee ancestor whose own terrible experience enables him to guide others on their journey through pain. The best part of the book is the fact that it quietly portrays the disquiet and underlying fear of being a Native in non-Native spaces. Edgar's chapters especially highlight this point as he navigates the small-talk-getting-to-know-you racism of people asking where's he from, what kind of Indian, you look so much like Jim Thorpe, etc. Sonja puts up with her boyfriend wanting to her to "play" Indian when it suits him, and I think her anxieties mirror a lot of Native women's anxieties. Knowing that if something happens to you, you will likely never get help of any kind is a heavy burden to always carry. Maria and Ernest look extra carefully after Native children, knowing that there are far too few people in the world looking out for them. Their stories are told matter of factly, meaning that even though the novel is dream-like, it feels like an honest portrayal of a family, both as a unit, and who they are individually.

Nothing about this book strikes too hard. It's a well-told story of a family trying to do the very best with what the wider world gives them, but finding comfort and strength in their people, and their ancestors. And I was very pleased to see the subtle mention of the Indian Child Welfare Act! I saw in this book what so many people saw in Where the Dead Sit Talking, and I am pleased to have another Native author to recommend!

Hobson's novel is an easy read, at times almost too easy at times. The novel is somewhat predictable, and I was wishing for a more deeper, more revealing novel because using the mythology as the means to reveal the story of this family didn't always work for me.

When fifteen-year-old Ray-Ray is killed by a cop in the beginning of the novel, he is somewhat removed from the novel, yet the essence of Ray-Ray is the main theme. Fifteen years later, his parents take in a fifteen-year-old Wyatt, a boy who is training himself to be a Cherokee storyteller and seems to have mythical powers. He is so similar to Ray-Ray that Edgar, his father suffering from dementia, rejuvenates and his memory returns after Wyatt moves into the house.

The daughter Sonya lives down the street from her parents but we don't really see them together much, or at least in a way that adds depth or revelations about their lives, past or present. I was hoping she'd confront her parents, or at least her mother, about her shitty boyfriend, missing her brother, something, but that doesn't happen.

The youngest son, Edgar, suffers from drug addiction, and makes an attempt to clean up and return home for the family bonfire to celebrate Ray=Ray's life, which is also during the Cherokee National Holiday. I wish we could have seen Edgar at home with the family instead of seeing him with his former friend from high school, who was engaged in making a violent hologram game where people kill Native Americans for fun. We get to meet the spirit man as he's on this journey, but the real journey would be for readers to see him connect with his family, for everyone to gather at the bonfire, gathering with their spirits and skeletons, and reaching some kind of reckoning, acceptance, and acknowledgment.

The Echota family grieves. Fifteen years ago Rae Rae, the second child, was shot by a police officer. As the anniversary nears, each member of the family prepares for the memorial bonfire. Ernest, the father, suffers from early stages of Alzheimer’s. Sonja, the oldest, has drifted through relationships without committing and seems fixated on one particular man. Edgar, the youngest, suffers from addiction and hovers close to suicide. Maria, the mother, finds release from her depression through a foster child assigned to live with them. In intermittent chapters through the voice of Tsala, their ancestor, we hear the legends and history of their Cherokee roots. Brandon Hobson’s storytelling has a mystical tone, sometimes slipping between this world and the next. He invites the reader to experience this through each character’s point of view, emphasizing the importance of grief, forgiveness and love of family.

A broken Cherokee family attempting to mend itself after the tragic murder of their 15 yo son, Ray-Ray at the hands of police. The Removed refers to their ancestors who were “removed” from their land during the Trail of Tears and forced to move west, many dying along the way.

4 POV from the Echota Family:

Maria (matriarch) who is level-minded and her POV is the least confusing and most stable. She and her husband (who has Alzheimer’s disease) foster a boy who resembles Ray-Ray.

Sonja (older sister) who sought vengeance for the murder of her brother – her story is very odd and felt like I was following someone who had borderline personality disorder.

Edgar (youngest brother) who became a drug addict to numb himself from pain. His story was the most confusing and dream-like. I felt frustrated reading his POV and I never understood where he ended up at the end of the novel.

Tsala is the family’s ancestor that is an immortal spirit that retells the grief and loss during the Trail of Tears.
This novel draws heavily on the Cherokee folklore & beliefs to illustrate a dream-like existence for the living & dead. It’s the dream-like writing that frustrated me. Maria may be the only character that was fairly developed & her story was so interesting while they fostered Wyatt & how it affected her husband who had Alzheimer’s. Otherwise, I felt it hard to relate to or care about the other characters & difficult to grasp the interweaving of the past and the present.
November is Native American Heritage Month & I encourage you to read at least 1 book by an indigenous author.
Thank you Netgalley & Eccobooks for this ARC of The Removed!
Expected Publish Date: Feb 16, 2021

Read if you: Want a moving, occasionally startling, and multi-narrated story following Native American characters.

Librarians/booksellers: Readers interested into contemporary Native American literature will want to read this; a unique mix of contemporary storytelling and legends. This is not a fast-paced read or a feel-good read, but the careful reader will be rewarded.

Many thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

It is a little difficult to pull my thoughts together regarding this book. In truth, I didn't like it much, although it did have redeeming qualities. The story itself is intriguing and relatable: a Cherokee family lives through the trauma of losing their eldest son to a police shooting. The mother strives to hold the family together while her husband develops Alzheimer's, her other son becomes an addict, and her daughter loses herself in a carefully thought out process of revenge. The dead son's spirit visits the family through others with whom they have contact, which lightens their load substantially.

The story also brings in other subplots: a departed spirit, Tsala, narrates some of the losses and heartbreak of the Trail of Tears. Also, the family's surviving son unknowingly becomes a victim of a heinous and vile anti-Native persecution plan that is disguised as a game.

Perhaps it is the writing style that I was not crazy about. The book felt like it was draggy and flat at times and although I got a sense of the characters, I felt that they could have been more well developed. It is important to read Native American fiction, so on the whole, I am glad to have read this book. Interested in the opinions of others.
#NetGalley #TheRemoved

Though this story focuses on the Echotas, a Cherokee family trying to get by in life, there are lots of other Cherokee stories woven in. For anyone who knows very little about living life as a Native American, this book will definitely give you an education of sorts. All the other stories that don't focus on the Echotas would be a distraction in any other book but here they are relevant and have a true purpose. This book weaves tales about racism, adoption, dementia, Alzheimer's, the strength of women, mental health and so much more together into one cohesive story. This book really surprised me in a good way and I recommend it to anyone.

The Removed by Brandon Hobson
This comment is being written during the Age of Covid. While Americans have been focused more than ever on issues of social and racial justice and its disparate impact on poor and marginalized communities, relatively little has been devoted to Native American Indians. 

One of the most egregious episodes in the US's violent and racist history was the Cherokee Indian Removal Act. During the 1830's, Andrew Jackson ordered over 125,000 Native Americans living on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida to be relocated to the newly acquired Indian Territory in Oklahoma. The forced removal has come to be known as the "Trail of Tears". It is a brutal, violent, horrid stain that can never be removed, most certainly not from the memories and lives of the ancestors of the atrocities. 

The legacy of the "Trail of Tears" is everywhere is Brandon Hobson's powerful new effort. This is Hobson's turf coming on the heals of the 2018 National Book Award Finalist "Where the Dead Sit Talking". "The Removed" follows the trials and tribulations of one Oklahoma family, struggling to break through the legacy of national abuse and neglect. While the matriarch and patriarch of the Echota family in Quah, Oklahoma have done their best to become productive members of society through their work and raising three children, it is all tenuous and subject to destruction at a moment's notice.

Interspersed in the current day trials and tribulations of the Echota family, the reader is brought back to the roots of the terrors along the "Trail of Tears". Many Cherokee refused to leave and were slaughtered in place for their resistance. Others died on the trail. For those who made it, the spirit of their martyrs lived on, and continue to provide strength, wisdom, and guidance to future generations. 

"The Removed" is beautifully written, utilizing several voices with a narrative that flows together in surprising and surprising ways. It is a sad story, yet still somehow full of hope. It reminds us how horribly European immigrants treated the natives whose understanding of life, nature, and spirituality far exceeds anything that the settlers ever understood. As we know how much we need to reimagine as a society and culture, let us look back to the wisdom of the original inhabitants to help guide us moving forward. 

Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for the dARC. Much appreciated.

The Removed by Brandon Hobson: This was my second second novel in a row that focused on the lives of indigenous people, Cherokee’s. The narrative was captivating from beginning to end shifting between three main characters, all dealing with the loss of their dear brother Ray-Ray. I most enjoyed the connection the family had with nature and how they believed everything was speaking to them, in order to give guidance, peace of mind, and at times hope. Thanks to NetGalley and Ecco books for allowing me an early read of this wonderfully constructed novel.

Pub Date: 16 Feb 2021
Book: 90/101
Star Rating: 4.25

This is a shifting narration novel. I enjoyed hearing the voices of four of the characters, including the voice of one of the ancestors of the Echota family. I was so intrigued by the voice of Tsala, the ancestor, that I would be interested in reading a book just about him. The Echota family is still trying to recover from the death of 15 year old Ray-Ray, 15 years ago. Each character has tried to deal with it in his/her own way. One character turned to drug use and it was some these chapters that I found least enjoyable. Some of these chapters took a very strange turn that felt out of place with the overall tone of the rest of the novel.

The Removed is a story of loss and how it affects a family, even years later. It is an easy, quick read, told in simple language. It follows several different characters as each of them tackles unique struggles in their lives, all of which relate back to the death of their brother/son.

After reading it, I can’t help but feel the book didn’t know what it wanted to be. The whole thing seemed disjointed and I felt like it could have benefited from some tightening up. Sometimes the prose being used was actually TOO simple. I can’t count the amount of times “rotting house” was used in Edgar’s chapters and although it was an ARC copy, there were some awkward grammar mistakes like “didn’t felt cold”. There was also a passage where within a paragraph a character says “In the kitchen I made Papa a glass of water with ice and took it to him in the living room” and then almost immediately after, “In the kitchen I made myself a salad”. Also, I don’t think I have ever heard of someone making a glass of water. Maybe pouring a glass of water or getting a glass of water. It just felt like both the writing and story both could have been tweaked a bit.

Additionally, I felt that Ray-Ray’s death by police shooting should have been explored further as it has almost no bearing on anything in the novel until the very end. Why did the author choose to include death by police shooting if not to explore that theme? Ray-Ray’s death does have an effect on all of the characters, but his death could have been from anything. Overall, this novel was an okay one for me- not great, not bad. I didn’t feel satisfied when I finished reading it, but that doesn’t mean others won’t love it.

The Departed depicts a Cherokee family in the years after the death of their middle son, Ray-Ray, who was shot and passed away as a teen. The novel follows the struggles family face along the way. Ernest is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and his wife is barely keeping the family together and son Edgar is a struggling drug addict. It was interesting how differently the grief impacts and molds the characters current life. Many Cherokee myths and beliefs are interwoven throughout the novel making the novel feel much more like a dream rather than realistic fiction. Hands down an excellent read.

The Removed is an incredible book, a book full of honesty and pain and the ethic of keeping on. It's about dispossession and racism, and about youth and age in dialogue with one another. It's got passages of sweeping magnificence and as mundane as describing litter, and it 's all woven together masterfully in a story that will resonate with me for a long time. The characters are real and flawed and their hopes are true and painful: there's the daughter who lies to conceal her hurt and history, the gentle and awkward foster child, the wife watching her husband's dementia whittle him away, the son who has to confront his fears and self-loathing. I felt for all of these characters, and I think other readers will feel for them too. This would be a great book for discussing along with a history of the Cherokee, US colonialism, and race in America today.

Ray-Ray, a Cherokee teen was murdered by a cop. Since that day, his family has created a tradition to share memories of him at bonfire. This year, that might not happen. The struggles of the family are just too great. There is drug addiction, younger men, Alzheimer's and foster children.

This book is a book like no other going off in different directions and with multiple points of view. I really enjoyed learning about the Cherokee beliefs and stories (I am part Cherokee so I love learning about my heritage).
I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it for those looking to learn about other cultures, if you liked Winter Counts your going to like this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

*DNF* Sadly, I was quite 'removed' from this book. While the cover is striking and the premise equally so, I found the narrative confusing and hard to follow. I typically enjoy multi-POV stories but there seemed no rhyme or reason for the construction of much of this book. Although the writing was steady and the characters certainly sympathetic, I found the structure of the book wholly distracting.