No one knows how many indigenous women are kidnapped, tortured, or killed, but Native women are murdered at 10 times the national rate; 1 out 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime, and 3 out of 5 physically assaulted. This work of fiction is an illustration of such crimes. The protagonist is a “Two-spirit”, or in today’s vernacular, a “they/them”. The indigenous view this gender in a respectful way. It’s an exciting story, with lots of action. It keeps you guessing as to who is on the “good” side or the “bad” side. My criticism lies with the character Luna, who, after 15 years of captivity in boxes, cages, and caves, is suddenly rescued and is physically and psychologically able to pursue her abductor, and load and shoot a rifle and hand gun. She also has a daughter by the abductor, presumably, who seems impossibly well adjusted. The family perpetrating the drug dealing, abductions and murders is truly horrific.

Thank you to @berkelypub @prhaudio for the gifted copy of the book.

Whew. This book was a lot to unpack. There was so much horror and tragedy. The girls. The bodies. The cover up. The violence against indigenous people that just gets ignored. It is heartbreaking. This is a book everyone should read. It was so good.

I am looking forward to reading more from Lillie. I learned so much from this book!

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie

Published: October 31, 2023
Berkley
Pages: 381
Genre: Native American Literature
KKECReads Rating: 5/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

The premise of this novel is based on actual events, and I loved that this novel focuses on the Indigenous Community. This is a necessary spotlight.

This book was gripping, heartbreaking, eye-opening, and powerful. I loved the incredibly dynamic range of emotions captured and the encompassing plot.

I loved the acceptance Syd found regarding her marriage. That was important. The cultural importance of stories like this should be told, and I am so glad Vanessa Lillie wrote such a brilliant novel.

This novel holds a lot of elements that are necessary and important. I enjoyed the use of indigenous culture and lore. This book will punch you in the heart repeatedly but will also show how beautifully strong a character can be.

Fascinating and informative mystery about how a Native American woman returns to her hometown in OK to solve a crime. The characters are compelling and the tragic history backstory is gradually told to the reader. Syd was a witness to a horrific crime when she was a kid. She and her sister were both survivors. Now as an archaeologist for the BIA, Syd is called to her hometown when an old skull is found. I think #vanessalille includes excellent information for learning about the history of the Native Americans who were relocated on the Trail of Tears.
I like how the author also discusses the importance of solving crimes for the Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women, part of the BIA movement. This ongoing issue has been increasingly relevant for Native American communities and should be addressed to help prevent these crimes. The ending was a bit abrupt but I enjoyed the story. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-galley.

I enjoyed this one but the main protagonist was a bit frustrating. She was kind of on a high horse having been gone from her hometown for years and then coming back to help solve a crime and then also help find her missing sister. She'd been gone for over 15 years so of course things have changed but it seems like she felt she had to always be right when it came to her missing sister. But, I did enjoy the story and it was a bit dark at times. I look forward to reading more from Vanessa Lillie.

I loved this book! I will definitely recommend it. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Obsessed. So so so good. I cannot wait for the next one. I loved the mystery that is revealed at the very end. I didn’t predict that at all so it was a super exciting plot development for me. I loved Mel’s recon ing with her past and childhood trauma to prepare for welcoming a child. Super sweet and unique and I loved it. Can’t wait for the next one from this author

"Your Gracie is incredible. She gets it from her momma."
"She gets it from who her mom had to become. Like those scars all over my body. I wouldn't heal them, even if I could. They are more me than my skin or hair or name. They have formed me. The scar tissue healed, but those discolored lines mean I am changed. That I will never be whole, but something else. Something stronger."

3 1/2 stars for this strong mystery novel with a grounding in Native history in Oklahoma.

As a Bureau of Indian Affairs archeologist, Syd Walker spends her time in Rhode Island with her spouse, Mal, trying to protect the land's indigenous past, even as she’s escaping her own. But when she receives a call from her hometown - where her sister, Emma Lou, has just gone missing - she's brought back to a fifteen-year-old tragedy she's tried hard to forget.

There's a lot to enjoy about this book. The family content and dynamics are strong, and a cast of strong and complex side characters (particularly Emma Lou's boyfriend) keep the book engaging. Emma Lou is a wonderful character and the exploration of addiction's impact on a family is sympathetic and dimensional. Blood Sisters is extremely grounded in histories of indigenous oppression in Ohio and interweaves an array of strong characters who convey different parts of that history. There is a complex history and legacy even in the lead character's role in the BIA, an organization which saw fit to exploit Native land it claimed to protect.

I found some of the plotting a bit confusing. Specifically, the logistics of a few of the earlier fight scenes felt incredibly confusing to the point of being incomprehensible. More notably, I really wished for a bit more of Mal specifically. The arc between Syd and Mal is fantastic, but felt incomplete in actual text.

Overall, though, this is one worth reading!

Thank you to @berkleypub and netgalley for my #gifted copy.

Syd is an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She is trying to procreate their land and help those girls and women who have gone missing or been murdered. She and her sister go through an extremely traumatic event that forever changes who they become. When a skull is found with Syd’s badge in, she returns home to figure out why!

This was a deep and interesting read. Mixed with fact and fiction Lillie has you reeling as you try to figure out what’s happening and by who exactly! We realize the reality of what it looks like for those who have their land and homes taken and the impact it has on a whole community. Syd’s character is so relatable with how she goes about handling things and the way loss has affects her. The atmosphere is absolutely tense as the feeling of hopelessness and horrors of the events. It leaves you just flipping pages with the need to find out what happens next!

As someone who grew up in a small town and never hears anything about the area around it, this book was weird to read. I've personally been to the places mentioned in this book and it made the characters and the story feel 10x more real.

Syd is an archaeologist who works for the BIA trying to protect the land of indigenous ancestors. She recovers bones and helps them find a proper burial/resting place. That is until she's called back to her home town in Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of indigenous women... she finds out that one of them is her sister.

I loved the way this touched on important topics like indigenous women going missing and brings light to some of the problems they face. It also captured addiction, relationships and rough family dynamics so well.

Syd Walker, an archaeologist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Rhode Island, is haunted by a traumatic event from her past in Oklahoma. When a skull is discovered near her hometown's crime scene and her sister, Emma Lou, disappears, Syd is compelled to return home. She's determined to shed light on her sister's disappearance and the long-standing issue of missing Native women. However, not everyone welcomes her return, and she senses danger lurking. As she delves deeper, Syd uncovers a web of missing indigenous women cases spanning decades. To rescue her sister, she must confront a dark truth the town would rather ignore.

I listened to the audiobook of Blood Sisters, and I would highly recommend it! The story is told from two perspectives, with two unique narrators. Syd, the main narrator, is conflicted in her adult life. She has spent many years trying to put the horrors of her past behind her, but now she’s being asked to return to her hometown for work. I liked that Syd was not law enforcement, but an archeologist tasked with unearthing bones found at a crime scene. I had never seen this concept before and I thought it was a unique perspective.

The story was both enlightening and entertaining. The author shares the struggles of indigenous peoples in Oklahoma and throughout the US while at the same time creating a truly chilling thriller.

The pacing of this book was wonderful. I found myself clinging to my seat, absolutely riveted by the story. Blood Sisters is the perfect audiobook to keep you company during an afternoon of boring chores, but I would not recommend it for work or any activity where you would need to share focus.

Thank you to @PRHAudio for the advanced copy! All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Berkeley Publishing, Vanessa Lillie, and NetGalley for an advance copy of Blood Sisters in exchange for an honest review.

I freaking loved this book- truly everything about it. I was constantly immersed in the story and trying to figure out what Syds next steps would be. I feel like the author introduced me to a lot of Native American culture that I didn’t know about either. I truly cannot recommend this book enough. I look forward to checking out this authors other works!

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

I really enjoyed this book. Syd is a complex, complicated character with so much going on in her life it’s incredible she can get out of bed in the morning. The author does a fantastic job of integrating Native American history, culture, and issues into the story without it feeling like a history or civic lesson.

A visceral and compelling mystery about a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs who is summoned to rural Oklahoma to investigate the disappearance of two women…one of them her sister. There are secrets in the land.

As an archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Syd Walker spends her days in Rhode Island trying to protect the land's indigenous past, even as she’s escaping her own. While Syd is dedicated to her job, she’s haunted by a night of violence she barely escaped in her Oklahoma hometown fifteen years ago. Though she swore she’d never go back, the past comes calling.

When a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, just as her sister, Emma Lou, vanishes, Syd knows she must return home. She refuses to let her sister's disappearance, or the remains, go ignored—as so often happens in cases of missing Native women.

But not everyone is glad to have Syd home, and she can feel the crosshairs on her back. Still, the deeper Syd digs, the more she uncovers about a string of missing indigenous women cases going back decades. To save her sister, she must expose a darkness in the town that no one wants to face—not even Syd. The truth will be unearthed.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from Berkley. All opinions are my own.

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie is a book that gives you way more than you bargained for. Filled with family drama, the haunting number of missing girls, the Native American plight and an underlying mystery that brings the story together.

You can tell that the research was exhaustive, which made the story come alive. This really read like a movie in my head. There seems to be a lot of novels out right now about the horrific treatment of the schools for Indian children and the women that go missing. I say it’s about time these stories are coming to light in mainstream fiction.

Syd was a complex character that was well fleshed out. I felt like she was the author, sharing a true story. Working for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) brought up a family tragedy that leaves her with long lasting trauma. Solving the mystery became much more meaningful than she’d ever imagine. A few surprising twists made the story even more compelling.

I look forward to reading more from this author!

This book was so good. It was impossible to put down. I read it over the course of two days. The subject matter was so powerful and I've already put the books the author recommends in their note on my TBR. This was a fast-paced thriller and a real page turner. Highly recommend.

I’m not sure if I was most intrigued by her work as an archeologist, the conflicting idea of a Cherokee woman work for Indian Affairs, the fictional mystery plot mirroring real life of the missing Native American women, or, hey, why not all of it rolled into one. Let’s just say when Blood Sisters was brought to my notice, I pounced on it.

Blood Sisters was never going to be a light and easy read with the sad history and present day circumstances of Syd’s Cherokee people which Vanessa Lillie handled deftly and carefully. As this was fiction, I appreciated that she not only wrote a compelling backdrop for setting and characters, but the mystery was one that sucked me in completely and had me vested since it involved Syd’s own past, her good friend’s death, and current day situation with her sister.

Syd got a reprieve of sorts from the life she left behind with a life involving wife and work and place that allowed her to block out the past, but it is soon obvious when Syd returns home that the past was unsettled and merely waiting for her to resolve it.

It was an interesting juxtaposition and point of extra conflict that Syd chose to work for Bureau of Indian Affairs since her people have never had a good relationship with this government organization. In a ‘change it from within’ campaign, Syd’s got an uphill battle that she was starting to make headway with out with the Narragansett tribe in Rhode Island, but this cuts no ice with her own folks back in Oklahoma when she goes home after years away when her sister goes missing and a skull is found on a past, familiar crime scene. Her home folks see Syd as a sellout.

There is no gentle reunion for her and the situation is volatile with all the corruption within the local government and the flagrant drug movers, but also the people who had no love for Syd. The tension was taunt and she had to work in a vicarious position. I do love the setup of a small community roiling with secrets.

I won’t say this was a fun and entertaining book because it wasn’t and it rubbed my emotions and mind raw in places when it gets real about the Native American struggles, but it was compelling and I was vested in Syd’s story and investigation. I have known some of the backdrop, but learned even more while appreciating a solid mystery with dark turns and a riveting resolution.

From the very beginning Blood Sisters hooked me. The story starts out with a bang and is full of so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. If you think you know how this story will end think again.

Syd left her childhood home in Oklahoma and never looked back. She now lives across the country and works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Rhode Island. When a skull with Syd's name in the mouth is found on her family land, Syd is sent back home to help figure out what it all could mean. When she arrives, she discovers her sister Emma Lou is missing, and she may be the only one who can find her.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me entertained the whole way through. Syd is a complicated and flawed character. She isn't always the most likable and she doesn't make the best decisions, but that added to her authenticity for me. I was on her side from the start and rooted for her success.

Parts of this were tough to read because you learn that the story is based on real life occurrences. Too often Indigenous women go missing and there are no repercussions or even investigations into their disappearances. The author also touches on addiction, land theft, corruption, and so many other things that affect Cherokee life.
Though this was a work of fiction, I still think this is an important book and I really hope to see more people read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a review copy. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

I love every book Vanessa has ever written, though as her co-author I may be a little biased. ;) BLOOD SISTERS easily made my top 5 for the month of October; for the full list, head to https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy06HHSsFCU

3 5 stars

The writing and storytelling in Blood Sisters grabbed my attention from the beginning. Syd was a complicated and interesting character. I was trying to untwist the mystery of where Syd's sister was and the motivations of the townsfolk she encountered.

While I enjoyed the book overall, the story felt a bit too long and the middle act was a bit slow. When the third act resolution began, though, I couldn't put the book down. I would definitely try another book from Vanessa Lillie

What a debut. Have you heard about this one? Honestly it started a little slow for me. Probably because I did not connect with Syd right away. But then I was hooked.

If you’re looking for a read for Native American Heritage Month, I can’t suggest a better book.

In addition to Syd heading home to native land, there’s a few mysteries to solve. A skull found in town. Her sister is missing. And Syd is also fighting trauma and demons from her past.

I was caught up in the suspense of the mysteries while also enjoying getting to know Syd, her past and her family.

At times it’s heartbreaking looking into Syd’s past, but I got to a point I could not put this one down. Those twists.