I’m torn on this one. I enjoyed it but it was missing a bit of polish.

I enjoyed the cast of characters being mostly of Canadian Indigenous ancestry (well, except the villain). It’s not something I’ve seen before (which either speaks to my uncultured-ness or the lack of minority voices in the media I’m exposed to… or both).

The story was simple (maybe too simple) but executed well. But it’s definitely not a story for a younger demographic though — it’s got a few extremely explicit descriptions of sex in it (I’ve read some erotica in my day but this was something else).

It’s a story about a mixed Indigenous lady, Joan, who’s husband goes missing.

We follow Joan as she uncovers the mystery about what really happened to her beloved Victor with the help of her cousin Zeus and her extended family.

There’s a few surprises along the way. It was a riveting read although the narrative unfolds in a way that left me scratching my head at times.

The choice to zoom in on the backstory of relatively minor characters was a little weird. An attempt was made to make these characters less like caricatures but it wasn’t very successful IMO.

The ending comes out of nowhere with characters doing absolutely wacky shit which was really hard for me to believe. It also happens very quickly. I would have preferred a bit more buildup before the end as well as a bit more of a denouement.

Overall, I enjoyed what I read and I’m excited to read whatever Cherie Dimaline comes up with next. I hope it’s little more polished next time though!