"The spirit of a chief, you see, is a powerful thing. The skull became a head again when it was lifted from the grave . . . resurrected.”
“Resurrected?” she echoed.
“Alive again,” he said, his voice measured and grievously low, prolonging every word. “But not like it was before. Not like the old chief. It’s angry now that it’s been ripped from its rest. And ravenous. Hungry for revenge. It’ll eat anyone it encounters. It’ll tear flesh from bone.”
“How?” she said.
“It rolls, gathering mud and moss on its decaying flesh.”"

"Black bark to her sides and ash beneath her feet, she smelled the earthy odors of dirt, mud, burnt wood, and something so vile her stomach turned. It was the same smell the wind had wafted her way on the nights she’d been chased. Only the odor was stronger now. Inescapable."

Seventeen-year-old Anna Horn is terrified of two things. The first a magical, carnivorous head that gets around by rolling, and is possessed of a set of very nasty teeth. She believes it is determined to eat her. This is the result of a tale her Uncle Ray had told her ten years ago. Her terror about the rolling head permeates, as she fears its arrival every time there is a rustle in the bushes, the main difference in her experience of it being that she can flee faster at seventeen than she could at seven. The second is that she will never see her sister again. Fifteen-year-old Grace has joined the growing list of Native women gone missing.

Anna is in the throes of that perennial challenge of the teen-years, (for some of us, this challenge can go on for decades) figuring out who she is. She is way more mature than most of us were at that age, for sure. She does not exactly dress to impress, favoring her father’s old clothes, and sporting a very unfashionable short haircut. She loves the stories of her tribe, the fictional Takodas, to the point of wanting to start a historical preservation society, to save Takoda history, myths, and traditions for future generations. The considerate and kind classmates at her mostly white school completely understand and support her efforts at self-discovery. As if. They make her school experience a living hell, taking it further than unkind words. Grace is a very different sort, desperate to fit in, wanting attention, focusing on her looks and pleasing others in order to grease the way to hanging with the cool kids. Acquiring a cell phone is the key to her potential rise, and she will do whatever she can to get the money for one.

The story flips back and forth in time, moving forward from Anna’s Day 1 in showing how events came to be, and from the day of Grace’s disappearance, showing the investigation and results. Chapters are labeled in reference to days since Anna’s story begins. Grace does not go missing until well along in those days. Chapters looking at the search for Grace are also labeled with the number of hours since her disappearance.

Medina wanted to highlight the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (WWIMG) that has been devastating Native communities for a long time. He shows the all-too-familiar problems residents of tribal lands face when someone goes missing, a viper’s nest of overlapping legal jurisdictions, inadequate police funding, and official indifference among them, not to mention racism. Speaking of which Medina portrays people of all shades as less then admirable. Even the Native manager of the casino assigns Native workers based on their skin color. Fox Ballard, nephew of the tribal leader, is young, handsome, flashy, sculpted, and not at all to be trusted.

Medina pays attention, as well to the impact of modernization on traditional values. The Takoda nation has been significantly changed by the opening of a casino on the reservation. The most obvious contrast is that of Anna (traditional) vs Grace (modern). The new road offers up a steady supply of splatted frogs, a pretty clear image of the cost of replacing treasured values with treasure. Income from the casino is making its way to all the people on the rez, although it is also clear that some Takoda are more equal than others.

As explained in the Author’s note that follows the book, the inspiration for the carnivorous rolling head came from actual Wintu and Cheyenne legends. It reminded me of the relentless ungulate in Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians, except that the elk in Jones’s tale is seeking revenge, while the head, though our only real look at it is through Anna’s terrified eyes, seems a more open opportunity attacker. Frankly, scary as it seems to her, it cannot hold a candle to Graham’s hoofed-slasher. It may have been scary to Anna as a character, but did not cause me any lost sleep as a reader.

I did feel at times that this book read more like a YA story than a fully adult one, an observation, not a black mark. The greatest strength of the novel is Medina’s portrayal of his lead, Anna. It is in seeing her social challenges, following her passions, tracking her investigative efforts, admiring her bravery, and rooting for her to mature to a point where she is comfortable in her own skin, that we come to care about her. That alone makes this a good read. The added payload, about the core issue of the book, Missing and Murdred Indigenous Women, about the impact of modernization on traditional values, about gender identity, and about the impact of story on our lives, gives it a far greater heft.

This is Medina’s first novel. He refers to it as a “thriller with mythological horror.” It is an impressive beginning to what we hope is a long and productive career.

"She said Frog exemplified transformation. He entered life in one form and left it in another. From egg to tadpole, to tadpole with legs, to amphibian with tail, to tailless frog, he was never the same. He began life in water, only emerging once he was his true self. He symbolized change, rebirth, and renewal, and his spirit could bring rain.
Anna stared down at the ill-fated frog. The reservation was transforming. The asphalt beneath her feet was evidence of that. And yet the very symbol of change had become a victim of it. The absurdity didn’t escape her."

Review posted – 6/23/23

Publication date – 4/18/23

I received an ARE of book name from publisher in return for a fair review. Thanks, folks. Can you get that thing to stop chasing me? And thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

I'll admit, it was a bit weird getting into the split timeline at the beginning of the book and I wasn't sure how much attention I need to pay to the days and times. Once I figured that it really didn't matter too much, and it basically before Grace went missing and after, I was able to switch back and forth more easily and found it propelling me forward through the story as the timelines started to meet and what lead up to Grace going missing. I appreciate the author bringing light to the serious topic that this story highlights and while it is fiction, this scenario is not for many Native families and it is heartbreaking.

Young women, really older teenagers, keep going missing from the Takoda Reservation. Many blame it on them running away, but once Anna starts looking into happenings on her job at the casino, she becomes certain they are not running away. When her younger sister goes missing after working at the casino one evening her family helps the cases of the girls spring into action. The disparity of treatment between the native Americans and the townspeople, drugs, wanting to be seen, Native American history and the importance of preserving the culture is a prominent theme. Coming of age and discovering who you are really meant to be changes Anna forever.

Anna Horn is an outcast--bullied relentlessly at school and pushed to the side by her younger sister in fear of Anna's own status rubbing off on her. Her only comfort comes from visiting the long abandoned trailer of Miss Shelby, a woman who tried to keep the tribe's stories alive be recounting them to anyone who would listen. She went missing years ago without a trace--or was eaten by the unhappy, travelling head of a dead chief, according to Anna's uncle. Miss Shelby was the only one who saw Anna for who she really was, not just a girl, but as someone who was two-spirit, "neither one or the other".

After Anna takes a job cleaning hotel rooms at the large casino on the reservation, and catches the eye of Fox Ballard for her quick work on the rooms and the lack of gossiping she does with the other maids, she encourages her sister, Grace, to get a job, too. Soon, Anna is chosen to clean rooms on the mysterious eighth floor, where all the best suites are. But something isn't right with that floor, and Anna knows it. She catches one of the maids, another native girl, dazed and stumbling down the stairway, and another woman running crying from one of the suites. And Fox makes sure she never sees who goes in them, or who leaves.

When Grace starts sneaking out at night and eventually goes missing like so many other girls on the rez, Anna is sure it all comes down to Fox and the casino.

This is one powerful debut novel, weaving together folklore and horror and mystery masterfully. The characters are all wonderfully human and imperfect, with Anna being the clear standout. I only refrain from giving this five stars because there was so much left unanswered, which usually isn't a bother for me normally, but here I would have loved some of the loose ends tied up. Also, the author perfectly encompassed the relationship between sisters, especially of a younger age. It is so complicated, a mixture of love, hate and jealousy which is hard for most people to get just right!

This is a story dedicated to the epidemic of missing, murdered and abused indigenous women, as said in the powerful afterward. The ending, despite its ambiguity, left me with chills. Overall, I'm really impressed with Medina's work, and I eagerly look forward to what he'll publish next!

Sisters of the Lost Nation is an important story that deals with missing and murdered indigenous women. Anna Horn is a 17 year old native teen living during the 1990s on a fictional Lakota Tribe reservation in Louisiana. They have a casino on the land and not only do many from the tribe work there, but they all get payments from it. Anna works cleaning rooms and has seen some strange and possibly illegal happenings. Anna is also of two spirits and is bullied at school because of that, her culture and her clothing. She wants to help preserve her tribe's history, myths and legends since their storyteller passed on, and is trying to be accepted by tribal council in that role. Anna also believes that she is being stalked by a disembodied entity that is a part of her tribe’s lore. As women from the tribe disappear, she becomes concerned and when her sister Grace goes missing, Anna desperately wants to find answers for herself, her family and her people.

This story encompasses many themes surrounding Indigenous People. I enjoyed learning about the various myths and legends which added interest to the story. The theme of missing and murdered indigenous women is timely and heartbreaking. The laws surrounding missing women on and off the reservation are archaic and present more stumbling blocks than anything else. Seeing Anna trying to navigate school with non-indigenous classmates who did not share the reverence of a two spirit person, as they bullied and sexually harassed her was heart breaking. Seeing her sister try to distance herself was also so sad. The writing so descriptive that it pulled me into Anna's world. The pace was perfect for this story, slow at times, but moving quickly as the mystery began to unfold. This story is at times heartbreaking and uplifting. I learned about myths and legends as well as the importance of them to the indigenous people. Most importantly, this work of fiction, Sisters of the Lost Nation shines a light on the many missing indigenous women and girls. Indigenous women face a murder rate that's more than ten times the national average and Nick Medina gives faces and names to these women through his fictional story.

Sisters of the Lost Nation is a gripping read that blends horror with inspiration from real world events that is ongoing. In 2020 alone, according to the National Crime Information Center there were 5,295 reports of missing indigenous women and girls. This is a powerful read, I highly recommend for all readers.

Thank you to @berkleypub @netgalley @letstalkbookspromo for the #gifted copy of the book! I enjoyed this #buddyread

Wow! What a debut novel by Nick Medina. I was totally immersed in this story from the beginning. Anna and her family live on the reservation which has been slowly changing due to a casino. Anna works at the casino for extra money as do many on the reservation. Her sister turns up missing not long after she starts working there. Anna and her family are distraught. The book explored many issues that tribal communities face today when crimes occur - lack of help from outside law enforcement, lack of resources and the number of women who go missing each year. Must read the author's epilogue!!

It is hard to describe how good a book like this truly is. It centers around Anna of the Takoda reservation as she tries to decide who she truly is, and what happens to her own sister. Woven throughout are tales that have elements of horror and fright that govern the choices she makes. It was complex, heartbreaking, and rewarding all at once.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think that this had a lot of promise -- and it had a compelling plot and mostly delivered on that promise. I see what the author was trying to do with the jumbled timelines and chapters but I think that it kind of made me lost at the start. But when things picked up I was really invested and I think that the central crime and fallout was well told and is an important story.

3.5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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.