This book was difficult to review. I love reading stories about Native life and culture—especially when written by an Own Voices author. But I couldn’t connect with any of the characters in this story. While the stories and writing weren’t bad, I wasn’t sucked in or invested in the stories and found my attention drifting.

I appreciated reading about Native ways and liked that the short stories were intertwined, but ultimately this book was just not for me. I’d still seek out future works by the author as I did enjoy the glimpses at Native life.

I’m in the minority with this review, but I encourage you to read other, more favorable reviews.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is a 3.5-star read rounded up. What stands out with this story is the attention to theme and the non-linear storytelling. Native storytelling usually doesn’t move in a linear motion, but even still this one was unique and definitely stands out. The story is given to us in fragments, starting with Dee when he is very young, then bouncing around to different points in his life, often switching from younger years to older years and back. Without revealing too much specifically, we see his encounters with family members and friends, his life on the rez, and his struggles with a variety of drugs and alcohol. It makes this a real page-turner because you want to see where the story is going. You have to rely on the theme and tone to really understand the story as the pieces come together. It is dark, heavy, muddy, and raw. We come to know Dee and his life and circumstances from the bare bones of the story and its theme, which I found really entertaining and intriguing.

My only complaint is that it is a little too much. It is thoroughly interesting to keep going but when we get to the final chapters, it all led up to something that I had not expected or anticipated, and not in an “oh wow I didn’t think of that” but in a “there wasn’t information that hinted at this at all.” The circumstances of the family dynamic make sense, but the actual plot did not seem to mesh for me. It felt like trying to cram a jagged puzzle piece in where it didn’t seem to fit. I think I would have liked it more if there was a hint or two into where it was going earlier in the book. Then again, that could have just been beyond me.

Although I want to rave about this book because I did enjoy it, I was thoroughly disappointed with the repetitive fat-shaming and the use of the r slur. I get that these characters are really vulgar, and fully fleshed out in their personalities, but I already had a sense of who they are and what their lives are like before the other aspects come into play. I think this book could have held up on their own without it. In one way, I felt really seen as a native woman reading this native book but then felt as if this author would disrespect me for being overweight. As a debut author as well, it just makes me hesitant to support him because I don’t know his character. I just think it hinders the book more than helps it because it personally broke me out of the story.

Despite those aspects, this is an impressive novel and breaks the mold of storytelling.

Penobscot debut author, Morgan Talty, shares a story collection that grabs you viscerally and won't let go. The stories are connected, but also stand-alone vignettes of living and surviving rez life with its accompanying trauma, drug use, abuse, loss, grief, family dynamics and poverty.

Highly recommend this book. It will be sitting with me for a long time. Talty is joining the ranks of Tommy Orange and Steven Graham Jones as contemporary Native authors to watch.

4.8/5

Oh wow! If Mr. Talty's collection of short stories ought to get a nod from the Pulitzer and Booker prize judges.

Night of the Living Rez reads like a novel. The same characters appear throughout at different stages and ages of their lives. It is not a happy book but it's a hopeful book with a lot of love between relatives even through rampant alcoholism and drug addiction. And though it is not a happy book, the writing is so outstanding that it cries out to be read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tin House for allowing me to read and review of eARC of Night of the Living Rez.

This short story collection swept me in and put me on the Penobscot reservation in Maine. This is raw and gritty, but told so gently that the reader can carry the burdens.

I gravitate toward Native American fiction in general, because I’m curious about the culture and want to understand the challenges of inherited tragedy. This is accessible to anyone interested in a short story collection that loosely ties together and explores what it is like to be Native on the reservation today.

Morgan Talty is clearly a talented young fiction writer. His Native American heritage and experiences lend themselves to his unpacking and crafting, in short fiction, a litany of dramatic and comedic situations which cause any reader to think differently about Indian Reservation living. This book moved me positively. The protagonist David’s interactions with family and with friend Fellis are the best features in the book.

Things I liked about this book: the alternate time periods narrated by the MC and what his life is like growing up with this mom on a reservation. I liked the Native culture being talked about but I wish that was more throughout.

Things I did not like: lack of a plot; the book doesn't have a plot, just a series of events and happenings that take place and how the characters react to it. I got to 77% of the book and it was mostly chapters about the MC and his friends doing drugs, stealing things, causing disruption in their town/reservation. I understand that these stories are to highlight Native struggle, however, the title of the book may suggest a mystery/thriller with a plot and story.

I think the author's writing is good but the story didn't excite me.

I am not normally a big fan of short stories, but this book is full of beautifully written stories of love and loss and family that drew me in immediately. I am in awe of Talty's writing and am thrilled that his stories were compiled here for his first book and cannot recommend it enough, even with the hard subject matter in some of the stories. Thank you to Tin House Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this great book early.

This book started off strong for me and then didn't really stay that way.

I've really been into short story collections lately and I was really excited for this one but I unfortunately can't say I loved it. I was largely confused about the chapters not being linear without any explanations or clues. When I wasn't sure what what happening and what age the narrator was, I lost interest. The writing also didn't blow me away.

I don't want to be all negative, but these are my honest thoughts. I enjoyed aspects of it but it needed some editing.

Reading more indigenous voices is very important to me and I am always looking for new short stories to bring into my classroom! While short stories are not a genre I choose regularly, I loved that these stories all had a connective thread that an through all 12 stories. Told by an indigenous boy on living on a reservation in Maine the stories deal with issues such as life on the reservation, coming of age in that environment and the connection between people living on the reservations. I thought these stories were beautiful and I can’t wait to bring them into my classroom.

I liked how the stories alternated between David's childhood and adulthood and how - true to life - some relationships changed while others fell off entirely. Overall, the structure and writing style reminded me of Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson. As with that book, I'm left feeling like (a) I just read something of unquestionable quality and (b) it didn't have quite the emotional resonance I expected it to. Thanks to Tin House and NetGalley for my ARC.

Whoa! What a ride. It was very fast-paced. The writing style kept me hooked and I didn't find myself losing any interest. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters and how real the story felt. The author did a great job painting the setting, so it was easy for me to visualize the scene played out before me. I recommend giving this one a chance!

This series of short stories was an interesting read. I found myself empathizing with the characters and the ordeals they were facing.

That being said, the pacing was a bit too erratic from story to story and I found myself almost skimming through some to get to the next. Probably a 3.5 star for me.

I cringe at the thought of being yet another white lady using the word "powerful" to describe writing by a Native person, but I cannot deny the sheer force that hurtles NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZ through to its (ugh) powerful conclusion. Talty's debut is deceptively straightforward -- what seems at first to be a relatively standard coming of age collection dips and weaves, turning into a profound meditation on the stories we tell ourselves about the traumas we have lived. I particularly commend Talty's sure hand in form and structure: the few places where the narration wavers from direct 'accounting' (so to speak) are surprising and seriously effective. Not every author is able to restrain themselves and not overdo those moments of loose and wild narration, but Talty wields perspective like a seasoned pro. I cannot wait to see what Talty writes next!

Well then, that was a ride through some serious emotions. Night of the Living Rez is a series of short stories that move back and forth between characters' lives. At first, I thought I was diving into a series of short stories with unrelated characters, but the more I read the more I understood the setup between stories/lives.

The dry humor and seemingly impossible situations contained in each story really hit home for me. Each year I teach an Intro to Native American literature class and, as a white woman, I'm always very conscious of the perspectives I teach in that class. I can see this book very easily making it onto a future syllabus. The importance of not only discussing the periphery services provided to the characters but also the overwhelming oppression of whiteness that hides just outside of the edges of these stories is an important one to note.

Again, this one blew me away. What a strong series of stories.

This book was very interesting, I definitely recommend it! It’s made up of short stories but they are connected so basically seems like one novel! I thought the different timelines were interesting and I really like these characters!

This takes place in Penobscot Maine Reservation. I found some of the back and forth timeline a little hard to keep straight sometimes, as well as the different stories, but it's nicely presented and executed in the end. This gets pretty depressing and dark real quick.

This is such an amazing book! While reading, I completely forgot that it is a collection of short stories because the stories are all connected by the characters. There's so much heart in these stories! You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll relate (at least, to a certain point). I want to devour every word this guy has ever written!

I read this free through #netgalley but will definitely be buying a physical copy to hold in my grubby little hands to reread a million times.

This book was amazing! I loved how the author connected the stories by having each told from the perspective of a young Native American Boy living in the Penobscot community. The stories range from humorous to heartbreaking, but each is memorable. I will be recommending this to many readers!

Loved these stories. Loved the characters. Sad to read what some people have to go through. These stories have depth and meaning. Brilliant.