This was a miss for me, unfortunately. The content focused on the crisis of MMIWG is important - but the plot itself unraveled quickly and the writing felt targeted towards a younger reader. (Is this YA? I don’t think so?) This was certainly different than the author’s Cash Blackbear series, which is wildly engaging. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy. All opinions are entirely my own.

Quill, her husband, Crow, and her two young children are embedded in the culture and community of the Red River reservation in northern Minnesota, although they are more prosperous than most. She is a runner who has her heart set on competing in the Boston Marathon, so she trains heavily on the remote roads and trails of the reservation. One day, when she is out running on a snowy road, she hears a scream. When she and Crow head out to investigate the following day, Quill finds a disturbed area in the snow and a tiny beaded earring. Though she tells the tribal police about the scream and disturbance, they don’t put much effort into investigating. Quill has had enough of the women from the reservation going missing with no consequences and the resulting suspicion and nervousness of the Ojibwe community where she lives, so she takes on the investigation herself.

Throughout the book, Quill makes dangerous choices and engages in behavior that has her husband desperate to stop her from inserting herself into the search for murderers. While Rendon does, in general, a great job of building Quill’s character, Quill’s need to continue the investigation even in the face of danger to herself and her family is hard to believe. Quill’s friends and running buddies are equally well developed, and in some ways make more sense given the reality of the dangers involved. Rendon also includes more traditional Ojibwe women in the story, and it is with these characters that she is able to provide a sense of the interconnectedness of the reservation community.

The reader gets a sense of the long distances traveled by the reservation members just to manage their day-to-day lives. The interdependence of the tribe members as they make those treks and attempt to find safety in numbers is palpable. There are many tough issues dealt with in the book, stretching beyond the central theme of missing indigenous women. Drug addiction, inherent toxic masculinity fostered in all-male work camps, gambling at native casinos…all are sensitively dealt with. There’s a heartfelt connection between the youthful runners and the traditional grandmas from the reservation as they all attempt to make a safe place for native women.

Rendon brings a different perspective to the issue of missing indigenous women than many of the recent novels that have been built around this theme have managed. She brings the perspective of the women themselves into the forefront, especially how this frightening epidemic affects native women’s sense of security in their day to day lives. The story-telling never loses this point of view, which adds power to the plot and the resolution.

I’m not sure if this is the start of a new indigenous series. Rendon’s ongoing Cash Blackbear series is more compelling to me mainly because I find Cash’s character more nuanced and sympathetic. If Rendon decides to continue with Quill in a series, and there is some indication that may happen in the final words of WHERE THEY LAST SAW HER, I have no doubt but that some of my discomfort with Quill’s character will be resolved. Even if this is all that we see of Quill, the book provides an important frame of reference for understanding the dangers faced by indigenous women in the context of a suspenseful story.

Thank you to Marcie R. Rendon, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Bantam, and NetGalley for and eARC of Where They last Saw Her.

I absolutely loved this book. Reading about missing and murdered indigenous women is incredibly eye opening and also heart wrenching. Rendon brought this to life with her writing and is helping to bring awareness to such a devastating situation.

There were definitely beautiful moments in this book. I enjoyed reading about Native American culture and traditions and could also feel the sense of community through the author's words. Quill, Punk, and Gaylyn's friendship and love for one another was a driving force for the story line, but more than that was Quill's determination to not let her friend become a statistic. It was both frustrating and also touching to see Quill putting herself in danger time and time again in order to find and protect her friend and the other women in her community.

It was truly scary to picture the situations these women were put in. After reading this book I had to do my own research and was shocked to learn that as of 2019, nearly 40% of women who experience human trafficking identify as Native American. It is even scarier to think that situations like those in this book are the reality for these women.

I would definitely recommend this book, but would recommend caution to anyone who is sensitive to topics of murder, kidnapping or sexual assault.

4/5 stars.

🍁WHERE THEY LAST SAW HER by @marcierendon 🍁

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher @randomhouse for the e-ARC.

While training for the Boston Marathon on her Northern Minnesota reservation in the winter, Quill is running on a trail and hears a woman scream deep in the woods. When word comes the next day that a local woman is missing, Quill knows it is not a coincidence. Ever since the oil men from the Dakotas and other midwest areas came to town, indigenous women have been disappearing...

⭐⭐⭐

I was both dazzled and afraid for the character of Quill. Her moral compass is wildly sound but her impulsivity makes those around her think she is reckless and out of control. Still, they stick with her knowing that she is on the right track. Thrilling and harrowing. There was also lots of Ojibwe culture mixed in including the story of the origin of the jingle dress. The depiction of female friendship in this novel made me that much more invested.

This story is incredibly timely and timeless at the same time. Women, and especially indigenous women, have been a target for predators and the alarm and backlash never feel strong enough to fit the crimes. This book features a character that will stop at nothing, even her own safety, to find the truth. This book does a great job of showing how continual, generational trauma mixed with constant devaluing and uncertainty can have an effect not only on individuals but also communities. If you need a book that covers heavy topics with perseverance, truth and community-minded solutions, this one is for you.

Wow! This book took me a while to get through even though I loved it. It's sad and the subject is painful but so important. It's the story of a Native American woman named Quill who finds evidence that a woman from her community has been taken and she can't stop thinking about it or stop herself from taking steps to solve the mystery, even if it puts herself in danger. Although this is a work of fiction, there are too many indigenous women who have gone missing - and not enough people who are aware of it. The stories of these women are important, and so is this novel.

One day it's a stranger. The next time it's a friend. The people of Red Pine Reservation all have heard the stories of women gone missing, but it becomes personal to Quill when she hears a woman scream while out on her daily run. No one knows who she was. No one knows why she screamed. She's gone with only a beaded earring as proof she was ever there.

As soon as I started reading the digital ARC for this gripping thriller/mystery, I knew I wanted a physical copy for my home library. Where They Last Saw Her is a story of empowerment, community, and friendship.

Addressing an tragedy affecting Indigenous communities, Marcie R. Rendon tells the story of one woman who has had enough. Quill has decided to stop being a bystander and to do all she can to find the missing women from her Minnesota reservation. Although I did not agree with all of Quill's choices, I admired her strength and perseverance. What else can you do when you feel unseen and unheard, and like no one else is helping?

Read this if you like:
- Strong women
- Diverse stories
- Strong female friendships
- Thrillers and mysteries

3.25

I fell in love with Rendon's Cash Blackbear series a few years ago (and recently discovered a new entry is coming next year!) so I was excited to see a new release from an author I have loved. This had a lot of the same elements that I've loved in her other series, but I think it needed just a little bit more development for me to love it the way I expected.

Quill is such a fascinating character. She has lived on the Red Pine reservation her whole life and she is generally happy with her life. She has a husband who loves her and two children and she regularly runs with two of her friends while they train for the Boston Marathon. But then one day on a run, Quill hears a woman scream in the woods and she can't let it go.

I think what this book does best is comment on bystander culture. It would be so easy for Quill to leave well enough alone after she reports the scream, but she is tired of the "see something say nothing" mentality that allows her people to continue to fall through the cracks. Does she make some questionable decisions throughout this story? Absolutely. But I think it all made sense in the way Rendon built up the character. Where I think this book falls a little flat is in the tying together of some of the threads with smaller moments. I found the book to be quick and compulsively readable but at the same time some of the leaps from plot point to plot point felt a little jarring because Rendon tried to pack so much into a relatively short book.

This tackles so many important topics that face native peoples today, from drugs on reservations to the lack of resources given to tribal police, to the ongoing crisis that the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement tries to shed light on, so despite some of my critiques I still highly recommend picking this up, and while you're at it maybe give Murder on the Red River a chance too!

If you see something, say something…

Quill is raising her two children with her husband Crow on Minnesota’s Red Pine reservation. Besides her family, her main passion is running solo or with her friends. When women start going missing in their area, simple things like going for a run in the woods become hazardous activities. But Quill is tired of the general attitude on the reservation that things just happen & you keep going. She starts her own informal investigation when the authorities come up with nothing, and despite the risk to herself she gets drawn in deeper & deeper in her quest for justice, & for CHANGE…

There are so many layers to this book, including but not limited to: the generational trauma that Native Americans face, issues with substance abuse (& how the halfway houses can be problematic), domestic violence, the pros & cons of casinos, the Land Back movement, therapy, & the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) hashtag to raise awareness. This was not an easy book to read, but it was an important one that gave me much to think about.

Thank you very much to NetGalley & Bantam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A scream rocks Quill to her core on her morning run- she races home wondering what was that? Or more likely, whom?

The story is there but the detail in some of the small daily details, are too much. Complete paragraphs could be left out, as every description didn’t necessarily need to be written. This was very slow start to the story. The three main female characters were written fine, each felt individualized but again, felt like the same conversations during the same setting. The plot had some really amazing moments that tap into the author’s heritage and then would just get stalled. And those moments just fell into that repetitive feeling.

Still what a great diverse read- some powerful female empowerment moments. About halfway in, it was obvious where the story was going and how the mystery was going to unravel. And it was a little frustrating how long it took Quill to get there herself.

The story of missing native women needs to be told and Rendon does it well. I liked this. I want to try the audiobook so I just requested it from the library. Thank you for approving me!

This was a very interesting Book about native Americans on the red pine reservations in Minnesota.. Q u I l l was out running one day because she loved to run. She heard a woman's screen but could not find her. This led to a very interesting thing about how native american women and children are deducted and killed and raped. It was very interesting about D a l 00 t h minnesota How he used to sell the native american women to the men on the cargo ships. The casinos were just as bad because the pipemen were coming in in their camps and they used to drug the women. There are so many different interests in this book How this author tied everything together. She became a detective because she really wanted to find out what was going on. Her friend wasn't involved with the cop but he had a shady past. You learned so much about how they had to protest because of How a little girl was taken from a walmart and killed. They wore their red dresses because this was a symbol of their pride and showing they're They were strong women. It also talked about the domestic violence. They had to put up with as well. Infected her marriage as well because her husband was worried about her. She was a determined woman to find out the truth behind these missing women. Your friend was One of them. It has a good ending as well. People should take this seriously.Because I live in seattle and it happened all the time. It shows a lot of.
Courage to write a book about this.Because we need to hear more about this.

Indigenous Heritage Month

This made me so angry. It shouldn't come as a surprise that there are thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women, and that nearly nothing is being done about it.

Quill and Crow are married with two young children. Quill is a runner. One day, she runs through the woods and hears a scream. As one does, she runs in that direction. She finds nothing, but a small beaded earring. As everyone on the reservation knows each other, she immediately knows who made the earring. Instead of calling the police or doing anything useful, she pockets the earring.

Crow doesn't like this individualistic behavior. He's not an asshole. Quill is just being stupid. He asks her to not run alone, which I think is fair. She begins running with two friends, Punk and Gaylyn. Everyone has their own problems, and yes, we can blame this generation trauma on stolen land and white people. Punk falls in love, easily and fast. It's a red flag. Gaylyn works at the casino, taking care of her mother and siblings. Her father is addicted to meth, and looks like an abuser.

Back to the earring Quill is carrying around. It belongs to a young, missing Indigenous woman. The tribal police aren't taking it seriously. No one is taking it seriously. There's a lot of back and forth at the casino. Two other women are drugged. One goes missing. The culprits are white men from man camps that have popped up in the area to house mining workers. So there is exploitation of land and women.

It's easy to blame white men for this predicament, and I'm not backing off of this topic, but at times, the culprit is a little closer to home. I'm not here to spoil anything. While I wasn't surprised at the colluder, as they instantly looked like 29837492374234 red flags, it may still surprise you.

A must read. I'll be looking at the rest of the author's catalog.

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I was happy to read a thriller about an indigenous community written by an indigenous author. The topic of this novel is so important and timely, and fiction can often move us to care about something in a way that nonfiction can't. The story was well-written, believable, and compelling enough to keep me reading.

A powerful and thought provoking novel about missing and murdered indigenous women. The writing brings to light the complexities of violence and systemic issues that shadow indigenous communities. The story is emotional and not one to be forgotten.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I found it difficult at first to get used to the writing style - lots of short sentences with telling instead of showing. But the story itself was immersive, and I could overlook that. It's an important story to tell - Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. I understand why the main character made the (maybe bad) decisions that she did, based on her previous experiences. I guessed at the twist, but it didn't take away from the overall story.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in return for my honest feedback!

This was a haunting and gripping that opened my eyes to the stark realities of daily life for Native American women and the everyday dangers that lurk around every corner. Marcie R. Rendon skillfully weaves together a story that shed light on incredibly important social issues. Quill was a character that hit me right in the heart and this is a story that I am still thinking about weeks later. I found it to be educational, important, and suspenseful. Both an excellent mystery and a needed commentary on the strength and resilience of Native American women and a call to people everywhere to give this a bigger voice so that future generations do not have to worry about these issues. Highly recommend reading this book.

A story of the kidnapping and sexual exploitation of Indigenous women in a small town in northern Minnesota, and a small group of women on the rez who decide to stand up and fight back, with or without the help of the authorities. The story also shares what it is like to live with the constant threat that exists for all the Indigenous women across Canada and the northern tier of states. Near the end of the book, the story comes close to going OTT, but even then, the reader buys into it because they want the women to be their own heroes. Highly recommended.

I requested this book simply based off of the Minnesota connection. However, this book was SO much more than I was expecting! This book did a fabulous job tackling the generational trauma and realities of living on a reservation. I LOVED the strong female aspect of the main character and the townspeople. I really struggled with some of the main characters decisions and the ending was kind of a disappointment, but this was a strong book and I found it to be very impactful.

A glimpse into life of the Native people of Northern Minnesota and how hard life can be on the reservation. And, then women begin to disappear. How far will they go to bring them back alive - and at what cost? Thanks to NetGalley for this gem.

good romance and loved how they found love and each other. They survived their trials and found their way back to each other. another great romance.