Winter Counts

Overall the book was enjoyable, but I could also so easily start nitpicking on it, which is not great. It's really a 50-50 book in terms of what I liked and what I didn't like.

I'll start by saying that I quite liked the plot in big lines, I liked the way it started and where it went. I think it was pretty well thought and planned out. I actually had a moment of gasping somewhere in there when some things were revealed and that alone is a golden star from me.

And I said I liked the plot in big lines. If I look at it closer, I didn't enjoy the execution as much. At times the action was too over the top, too mainstream, and the outcome didn't quite satisfy me. Actually, not at all. Yeah, there was justice served, but it could have been so much better.

The setting of the book was great and I enjoyed reading a book centred around Native Americans, I liked the use of native words, but at the same time there are a few things that I didn't understand because of it. Virgil did explain some of the words, but others were a mystery. There are some words that were used quite often and I have no idea what they mean. Granted, I get that Virgil explaining each and every one of them would have felt unnatural and forced, and I could have just looked them up, but I still would have liked the book doing a better job at explaining some words, it did great on some of them.

About the characters, and here I mean Virgil since he's the main character and we basically see everything from his perspective, I didn't feel like Virgil was constant in his feelings, he was all over the place. There was a random bout of jealousy at some point that came out of nowhere and had no resolve. There was a random wondering of heartbroken cures in the middle of the book that also came out of nowhere and had no resolve. I couldn't tell you what happened there.

Like I said, the book is overall enjoyable, but it really doesn't stand out. The description is fine, the plot is fine, the characters are fine. Definitely not outstanding in any way.

3.5, rounding up. Longer review to follow, but fascinating and very enjoyable, even though this isn't my usual type of book.

This book was solid. It paints an interesting picture of Rez life, and the struggles faced by Native peoples therein. The main character, Virgil Wounded Horse, is definitely the sort of lead character a writer can build a long-term series around, and I hope to see more of this world.

Drugs, fucking shit up, and getting in touch with traditions. A little too pat.

I had really high expectations going into this after seeing so. much. hype, but I found the writing to be incredibly simplistic and flat. Heavy on the telling, minimal showing. By all rights I should have loved this book but it was an absolute slog.

This is definitely a gritty (and extremely stressful) thriller, focusing on an “enforcer” who takes matters into his own hands when the law won't help people on the reservation. Virgil is doing his best to take care of his nephew under less than ideal circumstances. He's cynical and skeptical about Lakota traditions due to trauma from his youth but considers turning to them again when he gets in over his head.

This novel is really well written and I enjoyed most of it, but some of the fight scenes near the end were pretty silly, so I docked a star.

Virgil Wounded Horse is the man people turn to on the Rosebud Reservation when they can't get justice through federal law enforcement, which ignores nearly all crimes short of murder. For a price, he'll provide the punishment the courts won't. When his teenage nephew becomes embroiled in a drug scandal, Virgil makes it his mission to find out where the drugs are coming from and stop them from getting onto the reservation. Along the way he has to confront and come to terms with his Native identity.

Though a work of fiction, Winter Counts is an eye-opening glimpse into life on a Native American reservation in the 21st century. The book is well-plotted with a great cast of characters. The mystery and action pull the reader through the story. A great read for any thriller fans or fans of the movie Wind River.