A young Native girl’s hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe’s reservation leads her to delve into the myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself, in this atmospheric and stunningly poignant debut.

Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder. For the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation’s casino…and for the nameless, disembodied entity that stalks her every step—an ancient tribal myth come-to-life, one that’s intent on devouring her whole.

  With strange and sinister happenings occurring around the casino, Anna starts to suspect that not all the horrors on the reservation are old. As girls begin to go missing and the tribe scrambles to find answers, Anna struggles with her place on the rez, desperately searching for the key she’s sure lies in the legends of her tribe’s past.  

When Anna’s own little sister also disappears, she’ll do anything to bring Grace home. But the demons plaguing the reservation—both ancient and new—are strong, and sometimes, it’s the stories that never get told that are the most important.

Part gripping thriller and part mythological horror, author Nick Medina spins an incisive and timely novel of life as an outcast, the cost of forgetting tradition, and the courage it takes to become who you were always meant to be.

In Sisters of the Lost Nation, Nick Medina has created a novel that is emotional and dramatic. The voice is authentic and real, presenting readers with a novel that presents the truth about the plight of Native women in a way that is beautiful, heartbreaking and yet hopeful. The character of Anna is incredibly engaging as she tries to discover what has happened about her sister and learns to accept herself. 

I love the focus on heritage, on both the past and how to move forward into the future without losing the stories and voices of the past. I love the respect for the elders in the culture and while the tribe in the story is not a real one, it incorporates all the truest elements from real tribes and remains authentic in its voice. I also found the search for the missing girls, the coldness of the white society, and the struggles of Native people incredibly real and compelling, revealing truths white people need to see. 

If you love drama and mystery, mythology and authenticity, I recommend reading this book. Nick Medina’s novel is timely, emotional and dramatic. The characters are engaging and compelling. The aspects of heritage and two spirits are well written and intriguing. The novel is moving and reveals truths that most readers should hear.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stories.