The Marrow Thieves - Cherie Dimaline

⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Magdalene)

A Canada Reads pick a few years ago, it's a dystopian novel with all Indigenous main characters. In the fairly near future, Canadians have destroyed themselves during the Water Wars, and now there's a sickness going around where everyone but the Indigenous have lost the ability to dream. As a result, these people are getting hunted for testing and cures, and so they're constantly on the run. Our main character is Frenchie, whose family has all been taken, but he has found a new found family. Most of the time they're just on the run from recruiters, trying to figure out who to trust.

I thought the idea was super cool. There's a lot of reflection on generational trauma, and what has been taken from these people. The elderly are highly valued because they still have some knowledge of the old ways. But societally, Indigenous people have lost all value except as commodities, and they lost their personhood again so quickly.

But the book had its flaws too. It felt a little direction-less, and Frenchie's character was inconsistent. BUT overall, I really enjoyed it, and I liked the new spin on the dystopian genre.