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ireadsstuff's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
An important piece about the reality of Samí peoples lives in Sweden, emotional, and beautiful.
I love Lasse <3
I hope more people read this book.
I love Lasse <3
I hope more people read this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
corsetedfeminist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book reminds me of an Appalachian ballad: filled with love of the land and culture, family, purposefully ineffective police, murder, and grief.
It details the coming of age of a Sami girl, beginning on the day she finds her reindeer butchered by a neighbor who is not a tribe member. The rest of the books shows her growing up, the changes in her family, and her ongoing battle to force the police to treat the slaughter of her tribe’s reindeer seriously.
It begins with a deeply traumatized little girl, and ends with an even more traumatized, but brave and determined woman. I think Elsa is one of the most honest characters I’ve read in awhile, which comes with the author’s comfort with showing a story that doesn’t have a happy ending. The police never really come to care about the concerns of the Sami, climate change is affecting the village they live in, her family is deeply dysfunctional and everyone in her family has mental health issues, and the future of the reindeer herds is still up in the air… but there she stands, strong, proud, and tragic.
This isn’t a story of overcoming trauma, it’s a story about how sometimes life is just messed up and we have to survive it.
Beyond the raw beauty of the portrayal of Elsa and her family and friends, the racism and oppression of the Sami people is in stark contrast to the deeply loving portrayal of Sami culture in a way that makes the descriptions of oppression hit even harder, such as the scenes where Elsa’s grandmother’s dementia causes her to relive her days in boarding school.
In short, this is a poignant story about Indigenous suffering and grief, but still balanced with strength and somehow not without hope.
It details the coming of age of a Sami girl, beginning on the day she finds her reindeer butchered by a neighbor who is not a tribe member. The rest of the books shows her growing up, the changes in her family, and her ongoing battle to force the police to treat the slaughter of her tribe’s reindeer seriously.
It begins with a deeply traumatized little girl, and ends with an even more traumatized, but brave and determined woman. I think Elsa is one of the most honest characters I’ve read in awhile, which comes with the author’s comfort with showing a story that doesn’t have a happy ending. The police never really come to care about the concerns of the Sami, climate change is affecting the village they live in, her family is deeply dysfunctional and everyone in her family has mental health issues, and the future of the reindeer herds is still up in the air… but there she stands, strong, proud, and tragic.
This isn’t a story of overcoming trauma, it’s a story about how sometimes life is just messed up and we have to survive it.
Beyond the raw beauty of the portrayal of Elsa and her family and friends, the racism and oppression of the Sami people is in stark contrast to the deeply loving portrayal of Sami culture in a way that makes the descriptions of oppression hit even harder, such as the scenes where Elsa’s grandmother’s dementia causes her to relive her days in boarding school.
In short, this is a poignant story about Indigenous suffering and grief, but still balanced with strength and somehow not without hope.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism
premature_insecurity's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
En bok alla svenskar borde läsa. Att vi inte lär oss mer om detta i skolan och i samhället känns inte helt rätt
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Suicide
haileyhardcover's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
August 9th is World Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In anticipation and observance of the holiday, I’ve been spending some time learning about the Sámi people. The only indigenous people of Europe, the Sámi’s ancestral lands are in an area known as Sápmi, spanning the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and part of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. During my research, I stumbled upon this book.
Stolen tells the story of Elsa, a young Sámi girl who witnesses the poaching of a beloved reindeer, Nástegallu. This traumatizing event is only the beginning for Elsa, as she grows up and continues to witness against racism and xenophobia, unchecked mental health struggles in her community, climate change, and ever-present threat to their reindeer and, thereby, their very ways of life.
Strong TW for animal torture and death. At several points, I had to just put this book down and cry after reading some of the descriptions; but I still think they were important to include. Though technically fictional, Stolen is inspired by real events, and these are horrific experiences that Sámi reindeer herders experience.
There is more than just trauma in these pages, though. While portraying the very real struggles that the Sámi experience, Laestadius, a Sámi woman herself, also clearly wrote this as a love letter to her culture and community. We get wonderful glimpses into culture, food, clothing, tradition. Though my Swedish didn’t come in handy very often, I enjoyed learning some new Sámi vocab words as well!
If you’re looking to broaden your knowledge of other cultures, I highly recommend Stolen. Before I was even halfway through, I pre-ordered Laestadius’ next book, Punished, which is also inspired by the true events of Sámi children taken from their families to state-mandated “nomad schools” - Scandinavian versions of the residential schools that Native American children were forced into in the US and Canada.
Netflix has adapted Stolen into a movie which was released in April of this year. I’ll be spending my afternoon watching the movie!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Dementia, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
llayaz's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Blood
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
kirjakimalainen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
An incredible, well written and important book that manages to discuss both current and generational trauma that Sámi people face. The book feels like arctic winter and grief, the writing creates a vivid image of the environment, and very strongly conveys the mood.
The book is very informative on the current reality Sámi people face, and as a nordic person i'm glad i read it.
The book is very informative on the current reality Sámi people face, and as a nordic person i'm glad i read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Sexism
doreneemi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Addiction, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
lostgwennel's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death and Suicide
jayisreading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
I know very little about Sámi culture, so this novel ended up being really insightful in learning more about modern Sámi life and the discrimination they face in Swedish society. Laestadius presented a number of nuanced situations for the Sámi community in her novel, such as the challenges of upholding tradition in a time of modernization, generational trauma, as well as gender roles (especially as a reindeer herder). Importantly, though, Laestadius is concerned with exploring the tensions between the Sámi community and non-Sámi community, particularly when dealing with law enforcement. The message is a little heavy-handed, which is that it’s clear she wants to draw attention to the injustices that indigenous peoples face when dealing with authoritative figures.
Structurally, I admit that I had some difficulty getting into this one. I don’t know if it was the particularly short chapters or what, but I was a bit thrown off by the overall pacing of the novel. I think another thing that didn’t quite work for me was that, while situations were explored with nuance, many of the characters themselves lacked complexity. I did feel that Laestadius set the reader up for a good versus evil story with how the characters were depicted. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, it did make everything read as somewhat reductive.
One last thing I would add is that this novel is definitely not one for those who get squeamish about animal cruelty and death, as Laestadius does not shy away from describing the horrific killing of reindeer, also adding considerable emotional depth in losing them, especially since reindeer are more than “just animals” in Sámi culture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Hate crime, Racism, and Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Car accident
symmetra's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Sexism