As soon as I saw that The Marrow Thieves was a 2018 Canada Reads selection, I knew I had to read it. And now that I have, I’m convinced it was robbed of first place.

This book describes a near future that is scary and downright horrifying with its plausibility. Fresh water has become extremely scarce, sparking wars across North America. Earthquakes and rising seas crumble the coastlines, burying entire states and provinces. And the majority of the population has lost the ability to dream. Big deal, right? But without dreams, people start going crazy. The world truly looks like it’s on the brink of total destruction. But there is hope - First Nations people can still dream. In fact, it’s rooted in their oral traditions.

And that’s when things go from bad to absolute hell. Because civilization’s answer is to round up First Nations people, trap them in ‘schools’ and suck the ability to dream right out of their bone marrow. The obliteration of one race to save another. The erasure of a culture through abuse and murder. Sound familiar?

The story follows Frenchie, a boy on the brink of adulthood, and his ‘family’ - a ragtag group of people on the run from those tasked to find and capture the dreamers. Each person’s backstory is layered and complex, with entire chapters devoted to each individual ‘coming-to’ story. This character development really made me emotionally invested, with heart wrenching results.

The plot moves along with a laid back gait, relying more on emotion than action. But it doesn’t suffer for it - the pacing works for the story Dimaline is trying to tell. It ends without solid resolution, but with a sliver of hope for the future - I kind of loved that. It made me wonder what was next for the characters I had grown to love. And made me wish for more pages to immerse myself in.

5/5