At times moody, introspective, and poignant, Vanessa Lillie’s Blood Sisters explores the ties that bind and the trauma that can divide. Set in the background of 2008, this story delves into the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples continually being displaced from their land, as well as the disappearance of Indigenous women.

Told mostly from the perspective of Syd, and interspersed with chapters from “Agilvgi/Sister” Blood Sisters shows readers what happens when a traumatic event serves as a nexus point for everything that comes after. Whether it's Luna’s tragic death, Syd’s disconnectedness from her family, or Emma Lou’s addiction and disappearance, the stories of the Sisters reel readers in and leave them captivated (and guessing) until the very end.

As a reader, I appreciated the historical context of Indigenous people and the state of Oklahoma, as well as the centering of the very real horror of missing and unalived Indigenous women. This is also a story about family, and what it means to different individuals throughout the progression of the novel. What do you excuse? What do you expose? And what happens when you feel like you can’t quite trust the people closest to you?

Overall, this was an enthralling read with an ending that felt satisfying, if not slightly optimistic. But I was completely okay with that, given all of the turmoil that came before.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Vanessa Lillie had me on the edge of my seat with this gritty thriller. The horrors that Native American women face every day need to be highlighted more.

What a great mystery thriller. Right from the start it is obvious it is a personal story. It is a known fact, that the there are numbers of missing indigenous women. Their stories part of a statistic, tat usually go forgotten. And in this story, the author is breaking the status quo. The author’s note in the end explains a lot why she chose to tell this story - a must listen.

Vanessa Lillie tells a story of an archeologist that has to go back to her home town and figure out who’s remains have been found. She doesn’t want the girl to be a statistic. And there’s another mystery - her own blood sister is missing. Not only family bond, but a certain responsibility drives Syd Walker to find her, and uncover her town’s secrets.

There are bonds and traditions, pain and generational trauma that is poured onto the pages of this story. It kept me engaged and entertained, as well as broke me a little with how much there is untold still in the indigenous history.

Definitely a thriller to be on the look out for, when it releases.

Thank you to the publisher and PRH for my review copy. All opinions are my own.

Syd left the trauma of her Oklahoma hometown behind years ago, and now she’s an archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Rhode Island. When the discovery of a skull back in Oklahoma coincides with the disappearance of Syd’s sister, she can’t let either mystery go uninvestigated. She puts her archaeological skills to the test — and uncovers much larger questions about a pattern of missing Indigenous women and girls.

This Oklahoma noir mystery is so wonderfully atmospheric and haunting. Sydney is an excellent protagonist with a unique vantage point, and I loved rooting for her. I was completely immersed in the story from the start, and it kept me guessing through the end. I really hope this is the start to a series, because I need to find out what happens to Syd next!

In Blood Sisters, Vanessa Lillie has crafted a compelling story rooted in the ongoing tragedy of missing indigenous women that's led by an emotionally fragile, flawed heroine. Her Oklahoma setting-- an area wrecked by endless mining for every scrap of mineral wealth it contains-- is atmospheric and unsettling. It is a land that has tainted the lives of everyone who lives there.

The search for the person responsible for these missing indigenous women is fast-paced and grabs a reader's attention, and the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the author weaves into the story adds depth and understanding to the behavior of the residents, but the main focus of the entire book is Syd Walker, who as a young girl survived a murderous night and has been running away from it ever since.

I liked the fact that archaeologist Syd Walker has focused her career on indigenous history and that she works hard to support projects that make a brighter future possible for Native people. Her Cherokee heritage and her experiences in Oklahoma have shown her how important this is. However, I could never warm up to Syd, perhaps because she's too flawed. Her survivor's guilt is crippling. Her emotions are raw and conflicted. She can't understand why her family doesn't welcome her back with open arms. (She escaped all the gossipmongers while her family has had to live with them and their pointing fingers and whispers for the past fifteen years.) Her wife back in Rhode Island is pregnant, and Syd spends a great deal of time worrying about whether or not she's fit to be a parent. She also doesn't pay attention to good advice and tends to shoot off her mouth and run off half-cocked. Characters who put themselves in danger repeatedly aren't among my favorites. To put it mildly, her angst just wore me out.

If insecure, guilt-riddled main characters are your cup of tea, you should enjoy Blood Sisters. I did enjoy the story, but I do have to admit that I wanted to make Syd stay in her room most of the time while I did my own investigating.

4.25 Oklahoma stars

Syd Walker is Cherokee and works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or BIA for short. She is also a trained archeologist and grew up in Oklahoma. I was intrigued about this character right from the start!

We meet Syd when she’s working in Rhode Island, trying to identify a recently discovered skeleton. Before she can get much done on the case, she is summoned back to her hometown in Oklahoma as a skull has been found on land near her family home with a specific clue for Syd. One small illustration of the number of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls -- a very alarming situation.

Once there, she is sucked right back into the politics and family dynamics of the town. There are rumors of drug running and land disputes. Some are suspicious of Syd working for the BIA. And now Syd’s sister is missing. Are they all connected?

Syd and her sister barely escaped a horrible incident when they were young. We get flashbacks, and the trauma is evident for all of them. Will the full truth emerge from what happened all those years ago?

Along with Syd, there’s an interesting ghost who is trying to help Syd find her sister and identify the skull.

Filled with tense moments, I hoped that Syd would find her sister before it was too late and uncover the secrets that some townspeople were trying to bury.

This was my first read from Vanessa Lillie, and it made a great introduction. Inspired by real events in Picher, Oklahoma, this one felt very authentic, and I look forward to more from this author and, hopefully, this character!

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I always enjoy stories with aspects from other cultures and Blood Sisters has some of the Native American history. I didn't know until the author's note how much of it is based on a true story. The government and its agencies have been very unfair and even cruel.

Syd Walker is an archaeologist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She currently lives and works in Rhode Island. Her boss sends her to a case in Oklahoma where she grew up and a skull has been found. Syd doesn't want to go. She has been shutting off that part of her life since the incident where she, her sister and best friend were attacked. She feels guilty that not everyone lived, and also for the large number of native women who go missing every year. Syd arrives in Oklahoma to find her sister has gone missing.

At the same time, her partner has finally gotten pregnant and she's not sure how she feels about it. It's tied into her whole past where she couldn't protect everyone. Throughout, Syd is working through her feelings and beliefs.

The skull case is given very little time and effort. The local BIA supervisor is a friend from high school but doesn't want her there. Syd spends her time hunting for her sister. Her instincts are fair. She at least has some good ideas about how to find her. She runs up against lots of opposition which may be why her sister has disappeared. But she is seriously TSTL going into situations and being beaten up, being saved or escaping after some damage to herself. She has no weapons or seemingly any defense training, yet continues going into very dangerous situations up against guns, knives and superior numbers.

The actuality of what is happening is a wild twist I won't share. There was plenty of action (Syd being beaten up or running). Syd did get to the answers though. The conclusion is satisfying, sad and realistic. Everything doesn't end up happy with so much betrayal and bad having happened, but justice has been served. There is a foundation to build to a better future.

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie is heartbreaking, heartwarming, full of family themes of the most tragic kind, and a twisty, turny, suspense-filled thriller. And I loved every minute of it.

The family themes touched my heart the most. Syd Walker has allowed herself to become estranged from her family, partly due to her job with the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs), which has her headquartered in Rhode Island, and partly due to the guilt she carries. The story of the origins of Syd's guilt just broke my heart.

I'm very familiar with the missing Native American girls' statistics and that their cases never get investigated. It is disheartening, and I thought the information on this reality was handled very well in the story. It does a straightforward job of explaining the issues without an information dump or an overabundance of grittiness that both tend to slow down the pace.

I loved all of the shocking twists and turns the story takes. They kept me on my metaphorical toes while I couldn't wait to see how the story would end. I can't wait to see more stories from Lillie in the future.

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie is a compelling and heartbreaking mystery featuring Syd Walker, a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. While this is a fictional story, it deals with a real-life issue. Across the United States and Canada there is an extremely high rate of missing or murdered indigenous women and girls.

Syd lives and works in Rhode Island, but when a skull is found near her home town of Picher, Oklahoma, she is assigned to help on the case. Then she learns that her sister Emma Lou, who still lives in Oklahoma, has disappeared. Their parents didn’t tell Syd until she showed up at their home. Syd and Emma Lou survived a frightening night of violence when they were young and it still haunts Syd, who stays in Oklahoma to find her sister. However, not everyone is happy that Syd is back in town as she digs for information and searches for Emma Lou.

Syd is dedicated to her job, but tends to go it alone rather than asking for help and taking back-up. She’s also facing a personal relationship crisis that has her upset and confused. She’s determined and tenacious, but sometimes lets preconceived ideas override what others tell her. Her purposefulness towards getting answers and solving the mysteries never wavered.

This well-written and well-researched novel transported me to Oklahoma in 2008. Descriptions allowed me to easily visualize the conditions without slowing the pace. I was immediately pulled into the story and stayed engaged throughout. It was fast-paced with a smooth flow. With plenty of action, this novel will appeal to many crime thriller fans too. The plot is twisty and multi-layered with several surprises along the way. My one quibble is that I wanted more closure on Syd’s relationship with her wife Mal. Themes include violence against women and girls, mineral wealth being stripped from the land and the resulting health effects, poverty, drug addiction, and much more.

Overall, I am glad I read this novel, which was suspenseful, gritty, touching, heartbreaking, and atmospheric. While fictional, it is based on real events that occurred in and near Picher. The author also weaves in information about American history and politics as it relates to Native Americans. This is my first novel by this author, but I am looking forward to reading her next book. My understanding is that this is the first book in a series. The author’s note at the end of the book was very informative.

Berkley Publishing Group and Vanessa Lillie provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for October 31, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Syd is an archaeologist working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She needs to return home to investigate her sister’s disappearance along with remains that were found. She knows that Native women tend to disappear, and their disappearances fall through the cracks of the system. She also must face her traumatic past in order to find her sister and discover who the other missing woman is. No one wants Syd back in town and she’s on her own to investigate and find her sister before it’s too late.

This is a poignant and timely read as it explores what it means to be a Native American woman. November is National Native American Heritage Month so this is an ideal time to pick up this book. There’s a high rate of missing Native women and the author explores this topic head on. She is clearly knowledgeable and well researched on the subject. In addition, the main character Syd provides a strong voice to the story. She also manages to be brave while still struggling with her demons from the past. I really liked how the author used Syd’s past to connect to the present mystery of missing women. The opening scene and ending scenes were painted vividly in the story, with heart pounding action and emotion. I would recommend it to those who appreciate a compelling mystery, Native American and lesbian representation, and unexpected twists along the way.

Thank you to Vanessa Lillie and Berkley for sending me this book in exchange for my honest review.

𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 wasn't at all what I expected and I mean that in the best possible way. It delivered the fact-paced and twisty mystery I came for but also a powerful story of sisterhood in an oppressed indigenous Native American community that taught me so much.

Vanessa Lillie takes some of the devastating issues facing Native Americans, like the theft of their land, the plague of addiction, and the epidemic of missing Indigenous women, and weaves them all into a raw story that not only keeps you turning the pages but also educates you in a way that doesn't feel preachy. Yes, this is a gritty, small-town thriller with a lot of action and some surprises that shocked me but it's also an emotional read that will leave you angry about how indigenous people have been treated and the generational trauma that exists because of it. Don't miss the author's note - she, too, is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and her ties to this story and the real inspiration behind it show just how personal this is to her.

I alternated between reading the physical book and listening to the audiobook, which was fantastic. I have to shout out the fantastic narrators, both Indigenous women themselves.

I really hope this isn't the last we see of these characters. It's not often you come across a book featuring complex, fierce women and an entertaining story that also opens your eyes. This is one of them.

Thanks to Berkeley and PRH Audio for the copies to review.

Loved this sad, page turner - missing Insigenous women draw an archeologist from the Bureau of Indian Affairs home. Her sister is missing and the race is on to find her and solve the mystery of the past
Lives thia

Blood Sisters focuses on archaeologist Syd Walker, an Oklahoma Cherokee woman who lives in Rhode Island working for the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs). When Syd gets news of bones being discovered at the scene of a crime that took place with her 15 years ago, she is compelled to use her experience as an archaeologist to help solve the case. It just so happens that her sister Emma Lou has also disappeared as well. When Syd returns back to Oklahoma, she encounters a slew of corrupt drug dealers, government officials, and local townsfolk all trying to silence her. Syd starts to uncover that these discovered bones will lead her down a path she was never expecting to go.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this e-arc.*

In this story we follow Syd who works as a archeologist for the bureau of Indian affairs. She spends her days now in Rhode Island trying to protect the land and the indigenous past when she called home when a skull is discovered and her sister is missing. Fifteen years ago she swore she would never go back but she has decided she has to find out what happened. This story will bring you on some unexpected twists and turns it had my emotions all over the place. I recommend reading this thanks netgalley

This was a bit of a twisted story. I thought it starts out interesting but it kinda drags in the middle. It finally picks up again and finishes with a bang. There’s some surprises along the way that I wasn’t expecting. I did think it was well written but it turned out a bit different from what I was expecting.

When I say that I want more thrillers that are outside of the formulaic bored housewife or exploitative true crime junkies, Blood Sisters is EXACTLY what I mean.

This story follows Syd Walker, a white-presenting Cherokee woman (and lesbian!), who is an archaeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). After a skull is found near the crime scene of her youth, Syd decides to take the case and return home where she also learns that her sister Emma Lou has gone missing. Knowing that missing Native women often go ignored, Syd is determined to figure out the identity of the remains as well as find her sister…but to do it, she will be forced to reveal the incredibly dark secrets of her town and past.

Syd is an incredible protagonist and complex is putting it lightly. She is such a refreshing voice in this genre. Syd does not shy away from the brutal history and current affairs of Indigenous people especially the missing women that no one cares about. The recounts of her childhood trauma and generational trauma are heartbreaking, and the details are not spared.

One of the most important aspects of this story for me is that Vanessa Lillie is also a white presenting Cherokee woman who grew up in a similar Oklahoma town like Syd. It is evident from start to finish that Lillie poured her heart and soul into this story, and while this story may be fiction, this is still a very personal story. The author’s note is incredible.

I honestly can’t recommend this book enough. The MMIGW2S movement is of upmost importance and is not discussed enough. I also hope that this is not the last we see of Syd Walker.

Hoping to leave her traumatic past behind her, Syd is called back to her childhood home after a skull is found with her ID in it. This is a somewhat dark mystery that also brings to light the violence and kidnapping of Native American women and girls. The plot is intricate but moves fast as the layers to an old case get uncovered.

I felt that this book is very well set into the current climate, adding focus to Native American history, and the atrocities committed against Native American women in particular. That these poor souls go missing and no one seems to care is a terrible reflection of mankind in general.

With that said, I believe this was a good book. The archaeology aspect of Syd's job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs is one that I'd never given thought to; an unfortunate fact that there are many cases of remains to be identified to bring closure to the generations of relatives that follow. Syd is dealing with PTSD herself after going through a traumatic experience in her teen years, and her own sister is still missing.

There are a lot of twists built into the plot, along with action and mystery. It moved a bit slow, but I still appreciated the story and the research the author put in while writing it. Wishing her the best!

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

An admirable effort to raise consciousness about the abuse and disappearance of indigenous women that's weighed down in spots by the many subplots. Sad survived an attack where her friend Luna was killed and her sister totally traumatized. Ghost Luna continues to speak to her but her sister has struggled with addiction and now she's gone missing at the same time a skull, with Syd's BIA ID card, is found in a field. So Syd, an archeologist, is brought home to deal with the bones but spends virtually all of her time looking for Sister. Oh, and there's an issue with the purchase of homes. And her marriage. There's violence, drug use, lies, corruption, and lots of secrets. While I stuck with this as it built toward a crescendo, it got increasingly confusing to me. It's hard to review- and note some of my quibbles- without spoilers. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Liked the representation.

When Syd was younger, her and her sister barely escaped a horrible attack. Syd eventually leaves her home in Oklahoma and doesn't really look back. Syd is a Cherokee archeologist working for the BIA who is haunted by her past. Then one day she gets a call saying human remains were found with Syd's old ID in its mouth. Soon Syd finds herself on an airplane back home. When she gets there she finds her sister is missing and has been for a few days. Can she figure out who wanted her back home and find where her sister is before it's too late?

First of all, I love a strong FMC and Syd was totally that. Syd just wanted to be the voice of the voiceless and would fight anyone standing in her way of getting her sister back. I did not see those twists coming. I had to reread one part to make sure I read it right. I did enjoy the book. I really liked Rayna too. She was a funny side character.

This book sheds light on the horrible things indigenous people sometimes go through, especially the girls and women. Indigenous women go missing at an alarming rate. I think it needs to be talked about more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for my ebook!