SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Hunting by Stars by Cherie Dimaline: https://t.co/ofhfhCoMYD
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) December 1, 2021
Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3
Short Review (cont): Follow Up to the Marrow Thieves, in which the group finds themselves split apart when French is captured by a Residential School, which forces him to consider how far he'll go for freedom. Terrifyingly Brutal, a worthy successor to the first book.
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) December 1, 2021
2/3
Hunting by Stars is the sequel to indigenous Canadian author Cherie Dimaline's 2017 young adult novel, The Marrow Thieves. The Marrow Thieves was a really strong young adult novel, featuring a dystopian post global warming world where nearly all of humanity has lost their ability to dream...with the exception of those of indigenous descent. And so the story focused on a group of indigenous adults and teens on the run from a world seeking to harvest them for their marrow, as they form a found family and search for peace all the while keeping their old stories and cultures alive. It was a really interesting if tough to read, especially as it showed little interest in obeying classical plot conventions of character development - with main character French wavering quite often as he and his group tries to figure out what to do next. So I was really surprised and pleased to see this sequel pop up after it seemed Dimaline had moved on from this world.
And well, Hunting by Stars is just as strong as its predecessor, and incredibly more brutal with what it portrays - that same found family torn apart when prior main character French finds himself taken to one of the new Residential Schools, where he's given the choice of either having his marrow stolen....or to turn traitor. It splits the narrative into three, following three groups of characters instead of just one, and showcases some brutal treatment of indigenous peoples in ways that will ring very familiar to those aware of both the past and the current present. It's very hard to read at times, but its characters and themes are really well done, making this a worthy successor to the first novel.
Trigger Warning: A significant part of the story takes place in a Residential School, so starvation, torture, brainwashing are all major elements of this story, along with serious racism, just as you should expect after the first book.
Mild Spoilers for The Marrow Thieves, although nothing that will spoil anything that would ruin your enjoyment of that book, is below.
