A review by nymnphi
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

4.5

A brilliant and thoughtful page-turner. It would have been 5 stars, but I would have loved to have more details regarding how the infrastructure went out and more character development. The novel felt rushed and jarring at times despite what others have said about being a "slow burn" story. I think the overall pacing wouldn't have felt as odd with more time spent with our protagonist and the community. The only time I ever felt sad was when

Auntie Aileen died. When Evan was shot, I just stared and went, "That's it?".

Additionally,

the twist that Scott was a cannibal seemed completely out of nowhere, and I felt his blatant racism toward the end of the novel laughably out of nowhere. I will admit his taking the time to learn Anishinaabemowin DID feel incredibly fake, but the "Don't go all Indian on me" felt so out of pocket, a la "rice-eater" comments in the Shadow and Bone television show.

 

Regardless, this is still a fantastic novel and well worth your time. Rice does an amazing job at crafting a unique story out of a classic apocalyptic scenario, all while exploring themes of the perseverance of Indigenous heritage and identity against colonialist ideals; family; community; loss, and love.