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The Marrow Thieves: A Young Adult, dystopian novel that's short but impactful. The book is about a future where white folks are incapable of dreaming so they round up indigenous folks and harvest their marrow in order to dream again. It's an apt metaphor and it is HEAVY. Fortunately, the novel does not spend any real time inside of the facilities/metaphor for reservation schools. It instead focuses on a group of survivors on the run to avoid or escape these places. It's not a cynical read but there are sacrifices and you will lose characters you love. CW info near the end of the post.

If you'd like to learn more about reservation schools, I highly recommend Connie Walker's podcast "Stolen: Surviving St. Michael's" which follows her investigation into her father's residential school abuser (who her former police officer father beat nearly to death when he pulled the priest over). She won a Pulitzer for it for good reason. She speaks to a lot of her family who really contend with repressed memories and how the residential school system enacted cycles of abuse that they are trying to break. It's heartbreaking but very much worth it and yes, she talks to the priest who likely abused her father.

Also, also, I recommend the tv show Reservation Dogs' Deer Lady episode in season 3. You could watch it as a stand alone, but obviously you'd get more out of it with the whole show. It is an creative, terrifying, and devastating depiction of what it likely felt like for children in reservation schools, who were stripped of their language and culture. No actual scenes of CSA but heavily hinted at. There is a somewhat satisfying ending but it's a bit hollow like most revenge typically is. It's a beautiful episode that kept me up all night crying and angry.

Empire of Wild: If you like a little folk horror, this one's for you. It's a story about the Rougaroux myth and follows a Métis woman, Joan, searching for her husband, Victor, who disappears after they have a fight. Two years later, She tracks him down with the help of her 12 year old nephew named Zeus. They discover Victor is preaching for white evangelical christians in order to convert people in their community. In this book, the myth of the Rougaroux centers on a werewolf like creature who trolls around indigenous communities to prey on and change boys and men who disrespect their women, land or communities. I won't spoil the direction it's going in but know that it is eerie, political, and even a little horny.

VenCo: Do you like witches? Of course, you like witches. What are you? A Puritan? Lucky St. James, orphan of a "badass Métis good-times girl" and her grandmother Stella, are about to be evicted. Lucky is summoned via magic spoon to be one of seven witches in the Venco coven. Lucky and her grandmother are sent on a U.S. road trip to find the 7th witch before the witch hunter, Jay Christos, finds her first. It has horror, fantasy, magical realism, comedy, everything.

To Read: Haven't read these yet but they're on the list:

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls: YA. A teen girl hangs out in the cemetery her mother is buried in a lot, so much so that rumors start to spread that its haunted. Con artist ghost tour shenanigans ensue in order to save her father's crematorium business and continue to live near her mother's grave. She meets a real ghost. Friendship and queer love ensue. Haven't read it yet so I can't tell you more than what goodreads told me but it's definitely on the list.

Hunting by Stars: Sequel to The Marrow Thieves. I don't even want to give away the basic summary online as it would spoil aspects of the first book for you.

Into the Bright Open: YA book described as a queer YA reimagining of "The Secret Garden." Color me intrigued.

Some Notes:

If you want to see the other recs, just click the "lottafeelingsinhere recs" tag. Also, if you'd like to make other rec suggestions, please do!

Rather than try to remember every single CW warning I can think of for books I may have read years ago, I recommend checking out: https://triggerwarningdatabase.com/ Most of the books I recommend are the type of books that take real world political horrors and turn them into metaphorical monsters. So they're all pretty upsetting.