First off, I want to thank Net Galley and Penguin Random House for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was originally interested in this book because it was pitched to me as a Young Adult take on Gothic Horror that utilized the legends of Native American mythos - particularly that of the Takoda people. All of which sounded amazing and to be clear, Medina does all of this and more! However, I think those descriptors certainly shaped my reading experience in a way that made some aspects of reading this novel different from what they would have been otherwise.

Median’s writing style reads much more as “contemporary folklore” than “young adult horror”. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing! I was pleasantly surprised with how adult this book felt and I think the book itself is better for it, especially considering the themes it addresses.

The book manages to address hugely important subjects to Native life - namely the plight of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Given the subject matter, categorizing this book as “gothic horror” seems, in many ways, actively reductive. To be clear, there is absolutely an element of Takoda folklore and horror that exists here that is also quite interestingly written, but given the seriousness of the rest of the book it almost feels like a Native American Goosebumps. The blending of the lines between these elements of the story was where the this piece fell short to me.

Stylistically there were some bold choices that I’m still trying to decide if they were pulled off well. The plot is told asynchronously, which does help to build suspense and play up the horror elements even if it could be a bit confusing at points.

All in all, this is a touching story about the relationship between sisters and the importance of stories and who gets to tell them. How lucky we are that Medina told this one so well.

I have heard about missing/dead Indigenous women throughout the US and Canada but I have not read about it in such a contemporaneous experience. We learn that Anna's a young woman who works at the Native casino. She lives with her parents, grandmother and sister. She's grown distant from her younger sister whose pursuit of high school popularity has her getting into situations. There are many universal themes of popularity, fitting in, wanting to have better relationships with siblings when everyone is going through difficult teenage years. However there's an undercurrent in all this missing young women, stories and young women said to have "run away." There's a mystery here and there are questions that nobody's really looking into to get answers since that would require caring about these missing women. It hurts to be a forgotten woman and these types of young women fall through the cracks all too often. I felt for these characters so very much. It was an engaging read and I could not put it down because I really wanted to find out what exactly was going on.

Sisters of the Lost Nation is a welcome addition to the Indigenous People's collection of novels.

Anna Horn is a young woman living on a reservation - complete with a casino. Women begin to disappear and Anna tries to find out why. The heritage and mythology of her tribe play a central role in these disappearances. The myths are explored, the mystery intertwines through out the long time line and the book is engaging and informative.

5 stars

This is a stunning debut! The main character is such a pleasure and the atmospheric tribal setting is so refreshing. I highly recommend this novel that I suspect will stay with me/you for a very long time after reading.

An utterly exceptional debut. A recommended first purchase for all collections, particularly where thrillers are popular.