“It should be common practice to cover remains. To treat the dead with respect and not as a spectacle. Especially bones like these, uncovered by accident, because they were never meant to be found.”

Holy sh*t! I flipped those pages in the last few chapters so fast I could have started a fire. This gave me some serious Winter Counts vibes, a book that I absolutely DEVOURED.

This story was a heartfelt, fast paced, page flipping thriller that had me literally on the edge of my seat. And to read the author’s note and know that this based in truth and her own experiences…woah. Just…woah.

Syd was such a tough, bad ass woman and I routed for her throughout the story. Despite being torn between her heritage and birth family and new life and found family, she soldiered on with admirable strength and resilience. I want more stories about strong indigenous women like Syd!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Berkley Publishing, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishers for this Advanced Readers Copy of Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie!

A haunting, chilling, heart-pounding mystery dealing with the very real issue of the epidemic of violence against indigenous women and girls, and how they are so often overlooked. The story and characters were complex, real, and richly portrayed, especially regarding trauma, both personal and generational, and how we deal with them.

This was a very compelling story, with interesting details about Cherokee and Quapaw history and culture. The mystery is well-plotted and includes plenty of small-town drama, with twists at the end that I was not expecting. The book also touches upon the important social issue of missing indigenous women & girls and how little attention it gets.

Sounds like it's going to be the first in a series featuring Syd Walker as a BIA anthropologist/investigator, which I would definitely be interested in continuing to read.

Recommended for fans of Attica Locke.

I had neck pain from all the twists.
One of my best books of the year!
I love the representation in this book - not just a married queer woman with a wife and baby on the way. Talking about the abuse of Indigenous people - the comments about Columbus and other explorers. Yes! Frequently raising the reality of missing young girls and women - Indigenous young girls and women. 85% of Indigenous women experience violence in their lives.
Now let's talk about the plot - a slow build. A few moments here and there I was irked the author didn't carry through with the climax. Just setting up the scene.
A MUST READ!

Many of you have probably seen the a video about Manitoba’s government refusing to allow the search of a landfill for the bodies of two missing indigenous women whose remains police believe to be on that property. To be able to give families closure in such cases is a rarity; between 1980 and 2014, there were 6,849 cases of homicide against female presenting people in Canada reported by police with 16% being perpetuated against Indigenous women. The percentage by year ranged from 9% in 1980 to 20% in 2014. Keep in mind these are not cases reported to police (which are only a fraction of cases) but by police (also a fraction) and these statistics don’t include missing female presenting individuals. And before anyone in the US thinks it’s any better here, a reported 84.3% of Indigenous people who present as female have experienced violence during their lifetime, 56.1% have experienced sexual violence, and there is currently “no reliable count of how many Indigenous women and girls go missing each year.”

These are government stats from both countries so the truth is probably even worse.

See those dates? Those aren’t old timey statistics. Those are numbers from the last 10 years. The US Government, with all of its resources, right now, today, has no idea how many Indigenous women and girls go missing each year.

Which is why we need books like Blood Sisters.

Y’all know I’ve been on the Indigenous horror train for a while now. Blood Sisters isn’t horror. Horrifying, yes, horror no. It’s doesn’t use monsters or myths or folklore to augment the atrocities (none of them use it to replace them which makes the horrors of humanity all the more terrifying.” It’s a story of women refusing to give up on one another, of guilt, of the love between sisters, of mistakes, of forgiveness, and of the best and worst of humanity.

You should read it. And then sit down, shut up, and give the people who need the space to speak some space at the table.

Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lilllie is a novel about some modern day Native Americans. I recommend this book to mature readers.

Syd Walker left home after coming face to face with tragedy. The past still haunts her as she tries to move forward as a Cherokee archeologist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She's left rural Oklahoma and moved to Rhode Island where she can held help protect the past of indigenous people. When the past comes calling and she hears news of her disappearance, Syd knows she has to return home.
The BIA sends her to investigate the appearance of a skull. It has a calling card for Syd, like a force bringing her home. Syd knows she has to go, too many missing Native women's cases go cold with no answers for the families. She will not let her sister, Emma Lou be another one.
Once Syd is home, not everyone is happy to see her back in town. She will not let this rest. The deeper down the rabbit hole she goes, the more connections she see that lead back to the worst night of Syd's life. She'll have to bring evil to justice if she hopes to find her sister.
This book was a lot. The beginning starts slow and builds, once is does though it's a roller coaster. Vanessa Lillie created characters that hit home. They are struggling with their pasts and trying to move forward. Only downfall, there were a lot of characters to keep straight within just a few families. Blood Sisters is a mix of police procedural, family drama, and Native story telling. Pick this up immediately.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the culture and history that I learned throughout this book and I also found the main character to be a very interesting voice to hear from. What I didn't enjoy was some of the messages in the book and the classic "lack of communication" trope. This entire book could have been solved 10 pages in if people would have told the truth. I really hated that our MC was treated badly because she moved away and has stayed away mostly due to the trauma she experienced as a 15-year-old. They treated her like an outsider and I didn't like that our MC kind of forgave that mistrust in the end. Overall, I enjoyed it and would check out another book by this author, I just wish our MC would have had more validation from her family and community not only to feel welcome but that her trauma was recognized and helped.

Syd, a Cherokee woman, has always felt responsible for not being able to protect her two blood sisters one night when they were teens. While two of them survived neither has been whole since, living with guilt and the trauma of that night. When Sid is called home to help find her missing sister she starts to uncover secrets that go far beyond that one night and affect many more indigenous people than just her family. A fast-paced thriller that examines the continuing problems caused from the very beginning of white settlers in America.

I had a love-hate relationship with this read. Love: I loved the characters, the set-up, the cultural background, and the rocket powered story. Hate: I hated the way the main character runs into danger, alone, even though she knows it’s stupid. The 4th or 5th time she did it I almost closed the cover, but I am so glad I didn’t because this read is powerful, moving, and difficult to forget.

The main character is Syd Walker, a Cherokee from Oklahoma who has made a life for herself far from home. She’s an archeologist, married to a dentist, and the two women are trying for a baby, though Syd doesn’t seem to be totally on board with the baby idea. As the book opens, Syd is examining the bones of a woman found on Native land in Rhode Island. As she’s on her way home from the site, she gets a call from her boss.

Syd works for the BIA – Bureau of Indian Affairs – and her boss is asking, in fact demanding, that she return to her tiny hometown of Picher, Oklahoma, to examine a skull that’s been discovered in a tree, sporting Syd’s ID badge in it’s jaws. Syd is reluctant to return home for many reasons. As a child, she and her sister and their buddy Luna were hanging out one night when masked men (though ultimately known to the girls) break in, separate them, and kill one of the girls and her parents. Because Syd had freed herself and her sister but not to save her friend, she feels a load of guilt and sadness she can’t seem to overcome.

Syd is also being trailed by the ghost of that friend, Luna, who urges her to return home and discover what’s going on. Syd reluctantly agrees, parting from her wife on something of a sour note, as the news of her wife’s pregnancy doesn’t fill her heart with joy – and her wife knows it. Syd arrives home meaning to do a job of work with the uncovered bones, but she’s met by a wall of resentment, secrets, and heartbreak from her own family.
Her sister, a former drug addict, is missing and the family fear is that she’s returned to drugs. She’s left behind a little girl and a partner recently released from prison whom Syd is both angry and incredibly resentful of. Her resentment seemed slightly unfair to me but I understood her trauma and doubt – she’d missed her wedding reception searching for her sister, who had overdosed. She’d blamed the boyfriend, Cody, in part for her sister’s drug use. She’s weathering the disapproval of her family as they resent her absence. They know things about her missing sister that she does not.

Whatever the reason for her sister’s disappearance, Syd’s fire and determination to find her is undimmed and she is incredibly (and sometimes foolishly) fierce as she attempts to find her. The plot also involves a dispute over the ownership of native land (much of it occupied by her own family members) as well as a meth ring and a series of native girls and women who have vanished over the years.

While there are many layers here, the main force of the book is not only Syd’s desire to find her sister but her own reckoning with her painful past in a way that will allow her to move forward with her life. Her wife has advised her to figure out what it is she wants and that simple charge is the one that drives Syd as she reconnects with her parents, her little niece, her wild cousin and her canny and salty great aunt. All of her family have issues one way or another with Syd working for the BIA, which adds a layer to their resentment.

While I was frustrated with Syd’s continual plunge into danger I also admired her bravery and the love she feels for her sister, the love ultimately overcoming her judgement as she accepts whatever her sister may be in the present. The ending was so moving I went through many, many Kleenexes. This is a wonderful kickoff to what I am hoping might be a series. Syd deserves one.

This was a very interesting book! I really enjoyed the culture and history that I learned throughout this book and I also found the main character to be a very interesting voice to hear from. What I didn't enjoy was some of the messages in the book and the classic "lack of communication" trope. This entire book could have been solved 10 pages in if people would have told the truth. I really hated that our MC is treated badly because she moved away and has stayed away mostly due to the trauma she experienced as a 15-year-old. They treated her like an outsider and I didn't like that our MC kind of forgave that mistrust in the end. Overall, I enjoyed it and would check out another book by this author, I just wish our MC would have had more validation by her family and community.

This was a good book that talked about missing/murdered indigenous women. It is a subject that is overlooked by many, including the media. I like the writing style and the characters. I liked the surprise twist at the end. Definitely a new writer/series to watch. I would read more books by her.

Pick this up. Piiiiick it uuuuup. Let the horror of MMIWG2S flow over you, like it’s been flowing over Indigenous people ever since white people set foot on these shores. I cannot stress enough what an excellent story this is, rooted in truth.

There aren’t enough Indigenous voices in any genre, but especially in mystery. I shudder to think what stories live in the hearts of the First People, untold.
Lillie’s is powerful, kind, and relentless in her love for her people and her land. I deeply hope the publishing world recognizes it.

I liked how it started with the anthropology and wished there had been more on the cases. I appreciated all the information about the Oklahoma tribal issues, but had a harder time caring about the story that overshadowed the reasons the character was in Oklahoma. The pace was fine, and there was jeopardy and suspense, but sometimes this book felt more like an attempt to fictionalize a slice of history than to hook readers into a story.

Blood Sisters has such a strong and nuanced world and our protagonist is complex and engaging. Unfortunately for me the heavy-handed metaphors and constant repetition of information made it difficult for me to remain consistently interested.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would write an honest review.

The missing indigenous women are a truly devastating story and deserve all the attention, fiction or non fiction that they can get. For their part in Blood Sisters, it is an important read.

I thought there were an abundance of plot lines and sometimes it was difficult to keep them straight. Syd, our protagonist, gay, Cherokee, archeologist/investigator, had a few too many scrapes with death and the evil forces trying to sell drugs, cover up wrongdoings from the past, and steal Cherokee lands. She was a complicated heroine and I could have done with less chases or near death escapes. Her family issues were also overwhelming for me. Too many to innumerate. Despite those things, I still rooted for her to get to the bottom of the search for truth and her sister.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

The storyline revolves around a Bureau of Indian Affairs Archeologist based in Rhode Island who is brought into a case in her hometown in Oklahoma and involving family members and neighbors. It was a bit of a struggle for me to read at times, but overall it is an okay book.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

A dramatic mystery steeped in Native American culture and history — a pretty thick atmosphere of (massive) historic injustice coupled with modern ills. Syd — of Cherokee descent — works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs — a placement that simultaneously troubles her and gives her a feeling of being able to help. She is driven by a need to protect, and is overcome with guilt from a traumatic, long ago event when she was absolutely unable to do so. Now she is being sent back home to Oklahoma to investigate a skull discovered dangling her old ID badge from it’s empty jaws…

The mystery is engaging and Syd is a good strong character. The narrative is a bit muddy and more angst ridden than I like. Native American history in the U.S. is beyond depressing and quite a lot of Syd’s inner dialog is spent fuming about one injustice after another. I can’t fault her for this, but it actually detracts from the story and eventually makes me go numb. I have read a lot of Native American history though both fiction and non-fiction, but if this is new to you, you will learn a lot.

I'm Native American and live in Oklahoma so I thought this book was really interesting. Syd is Cherokee and left her small town of Picher, Oklahoma to move away, hoping to leave behind the traumatic experience she had as a teenager. She never planned to return to Picher but her job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs has her return when a skeleton is found with her old ID inside it. Back in her home town, she finds out her sister is missing and the town is damaged from all the mining that took place decades ago. This is ultimately a mystery but all the facts about Oklahoma make it unique.