This is a Native American Story set in Minnesota. Quill lives in the Red Pine reservation and deals with her anxiety by running. She's hoping to run the Boston and has inspired some other women to run with her. It's when she is running out alone that she hears something - she is sure that it is a woman that is in trouble. Even with her husband and her friends alerted, she is unable to get the local police interested. Quill does what we would do - she takes it into her own hands and puts herself in danger.
A good story. #randomhouse #marcierrendon #wheretheylastsawher

A hard book to read but an important one and well worth my students reading, both those who are Native and those who aren't. Lots of issues woven into the mystery and strong female characters and strong cultural and family shown.

Well. This was devastating. Incredible thriller with a dark reality woven in. It left me thinking about it for a week after finishing.

This book is sad but based in reality of how native women are and have been treated for years. The female characters are strong and the plot is interesting.

A tough look at the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) crisis brings attention to the tragedy through a decent mystery novel.

Quill and her family live in rural Minnesota on an Ojibwe reservation. Quill is a runner and is training for a marathon, but when she’s running out in the forest she hears a woman scream. The tribal police half-heartedly investigate, so Quill decides to find out more for herself. As she digs deeper, Quill witnesses and hears about more attacks on Native women and she herself is intimidated and threatened.

As a mystery this is just okay, but what makes it much more immediate is the folding in of the real life horror of missing Indigenous women and girls, particularly around “man camps” set up to work on pipelines. Quill and her friends are given agency in their search for justice, though this does lead them to make some risky choices. I completely sympathized with Crow, Quill’s stoic and supportive husband, in his frustration and protectiveness.

Also adding to the texture of this novel, is the weaving in of information about Indian culture. This is sometimes done seamlessly but occasionally is a bit clumsy and clunky. The author creates a powerful feeling of community with the women’s group who run together to bring attention to the plight of their sisters.

I felt I learned a lot, which is not necessarily something you look for with a mystery, but it worked for me.

Thanks to Bantam and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Simply put, this book was amazing. Thoroughly thought-provoking, as it provides perspective on a serious issue and trauma occurring in Native communities across Canada and the United States. Marcie R. Rendon does a good job at providing information/statistics to enrich and guide her storytelling. It is dark yet captivating. I would overall recommend this book. (4 stars)

This book brings to light the every important issue of Native American women going missing and how little seems to be done to try to find them. The books starts off fast with the woman's scream and it kept me intrigued. It was definitely a hard read at times knowing how this is so true to life but it is every important for people to actually know about and understand.

I liked this book I like the elements of native culture and I felt it important that it brings to light the large number of native women who go missing and nothing is done
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

Thank you to the publisher for my arc!

I really wanted to enjoy this but sadly this wasn’t for me. The story didn’t keep me engaged

Thank you Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this book. I very much enjoyed it. While reading I learned a bit about native culture. The book was exciting and scary. It brought to my attention about how many native women go missing and nothing is done. I will be reading more about this.

Quill and husband, Crow, live on the rez in Minnesota. She’s training for a marathon but, what or who is she really running from? As I read her story her motivations became clearer - fear, anger, pain and the need for justice. The plot highlights the search for women missing and those searching for them. I’ve read several other novels which highlighted ongoing social disparity within the Native American people. The book reminded me of the short-lived TV show Alaska Daily. Women of many ethnic groups go missing by the hour, when will changes come? The area where this takes place is very unfamiliar to me, cold near the Canadian border. The characters were vivid and the search for the missing is an emotional journey. Quill is so focused on getting answers and finding the forgotten missing women, that her own husband and young children take a back seat. She doesn’t realize her priorities could leave them motherless. She’s impulsive, determined and puts herself in risky situations. Much of her frustration stems from law enforcement’s continued jurisdictional disputes with little to no cooperation between agencies. The cultural insights were relevant and valuable. This was another new author to add to my watch list. Thanks to Bantam Books, Penguin Random House for providing the Advance Reader Copy of “Where They Last Saw Her” by Marcie R. Rendon, via NetGalley, expected publication 09/03/2024. These are my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

First big thanks go to Net Galley for the DRC. Getting this early copy is much appreciated.

In “Where They Last Saw Her”, Marcie Rendon delves into the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women. While this topic was not new to me, how Rendon showed it from the point of view of a native woman watching this happen in her community was. I made the mistake of reading this late at night, resulting in vivid, heart racing dreams. Always a sign the book has me.

The book starts when Quill, the feisty protagonist, is out for a run and hears a woman’s scream deep in the woods. Not believing the authorities cared enough to investigate, she takes it upon herself to work the case. Of course there is a fair number of fantastical moments, if you’re able to move pass “that would never happen, oh please spare me”, you will enjoy this book. There were many moments I wanted to jump into the scene and yell “what are you doing!?” while holding my breath & rooting her on all the same.

In my opinion there were some side stories that weren’t adequately resolved. I like everything tied up nicely by the last page. Maybe Rendon will explore some of those stories in her next book. One can hope!

I was so excited to read this story as I live in MN and have long wondered about the stories I hear of missing and murdered Native American and First Nation women. I loved the setting and the introduction to the Ojibwe culture and language. I just couldn’t connect with the characters and after a while, the clunky writing and structure started to bug me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing – Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I found that this story could have had so much potential, but I couldn’t connect to the characters. It was very intriguing in the beginning and wasted no time getting to the point: a women’s scream is heard and they try to find out what happened to her . Great awareness regarding g native women. Unfortunately, fell short for me

Marcie Rendon has another on-the-nose and current events thriller well worth reading for both the story and the true-to-life tension. What can we do to stop the abduction of First Nation/Native American women and girls (and children and young men)?

This had an interesting setting and premise, and covered the important issue of missing and murdered Native American and First Nation women. The main character, Quill, was a little infuriating, as her reckless and impetuous behavior made most situations worse than they needed to be. There were no real twists, and no real suspense, but I'll rate it pretty highly due to the integration of Ojibwe phrases and lifestyle.

Also, I think the cover is very striking -- one of the best I've seen this year.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

Certainly not an easy read, but an important one. This focuses on Quill, a Native woman who is gets wrapped up in a case of missing women. It does a nice job of sharing the story, while making people aware of all of the missing Native women in years past. The protagonist makes choices that made me want to scream, but she as a hero!

This book is an important read. I feel like awareness should be raised about the missing and endangered Native women and children across the U.S.. this book was beautifully written with a thoughtful afterwards.

Where They Last Saw Her is the story of Quill, her Native American running pals Punk and Gaylyn, and husband Crow who become caught up in the search for one and then another and then another missing woman from their Northern Minnesota reservation community. A well-conceived novel chock full of regional and cultural detail, high emotions and hot topic issues (#mmiw) but somewhat raggedly written. I read this as a NetGalley edition that will hopefully go through a final edit before publication. I raged with, rooted for, and feared for the women in this story, was amazed by their strength and determination. On that level ane The Last Time They Saw Her is a highly successful novel, but it could have so much more. As a reader of literary fiction, I look for those phrases that stick in the mind, that beg to be copied out or highlighted. Maybe this is a rough story roughly told for a reason, a specific story of missing indigenous women that refuses to be trotted out as a universal human experience. Instead it represents a distinctly Native American experience, an ongoing race specific trauma. So I will forgo ratings and stars, and just land this here not as review but as shared sorrow.

I struggled a lot with this book. The plot was generally pretty good, but the writing felt a little repetitive and the incompetency of the main character made me mental. I definitely figured out fairly early who the bad guy was. Quill put herself in absolutely reckless situations which possibly made the book more interesting, but it was frustrating as a reader. I did think it was cool that it took place in northern MN, we my dad used to live in Duluth.