#sheine lende

[aroaessidhe]

one of my new fungi bookmarks with a few books! mamo and sheiné łénde both involve fairy rings, and mexican gothic....you know.

[layaart]

I read an arc of Sheiné łénde by Darcie Little Badger last year and I loved it so much. It comes out in April! Here's some fanart 🌻

[yourfavebooklrsfavebooklr]

New Releases of April 2024!

I’ve been really excited for Dear Wendy for so long! Can’t wait for it to come out :) I have no clue how I’m going to find time to read everything coming out this month tho 😅

[bookcub]

Book Review: Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger

Thank you to Levine Querido for providing a free digital copy to review via NetGalley.

Sheine Lende is a prerquel to Elatsoe, centering on Ellie's grandmother when she was a teenager. Shane is a tracker, who was trained by her mom. One day, her mom goes missing and Shane must find her with the help of her family and new found friends.

Despite the high stakes of the story, I found the first half to be quite slow paced. It was worth taking my time with and I found the second half to be more compelling. The storytelling within the novel created any layers and nuance to the characters and plot. I especially enjoyed the few chapters in first person in contrast to the ones in third, as they felt more emotional.

Another aspect I enjoyed was how the conflict in the story arose very natually from the circumstances of the characters' lives and how they were well equipped for their journey. This adds a level of believability that many speculative stories can lack and for me, raises the stakes, due to the reality mixed in with ther fantastical.

The ending was incredibly satisfying and very rewarding.

This is the third novel I have read by Little Badger and I am always excited to return to her work. Her signature writing style remains beautiful, the much needed focus on familial and platonic relationships was present, as well as poignant themes of colonialism. Little Badger manages to have a distinct style, while each of her works functioning as its own distinct story. I am excited to see what she has in store for us next!

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger

Source: NetGalley ARC

Publisher: Levine Querido

Release date: 16 April 2024

Genre: young adult historical/urban fantasy (70s rural Texas)

If you like:

dogs (ghost dogs!)

various ghost animals, existing and extinct

no romance whatsoever

hope and community in the midst of grief and loss

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Synopsis

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood - and the loss of Shane's father and her grandparents. They don't think they'll ever get their home back.

Then Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent - who isn't to be trusted - set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world - or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

Content warnings

Colonisation

Loss of close family members

Illness

Natural disasters

Grief

Review

I found out about this book while scrolling through NetGalley, and the second I saw that it was a prequel to Elatsoe, I had to read it.

This is a prequel about Elatsoe's grandmother Shane as a 17 year old girl, but you don't have to read Elatsoe to know what's going on, and both books can be read in either order as standalones.

This book is so well-crafted and thoughtful; it took me a little while to fully immerse myself in the story, because the setting and vibe is so different from Elatsoe, and it is a little slower paced, but once I got into the groove, the story flowed over me.

We follow Shane as she tries to figure out the mystery of her mother's and a child's disappearance, and along the way we learn about her history, as well as explore her relationships with her family and friends.

A strong focus of the book is on Shane's grief; grief from losing not only her home and her family members, but also losing her culture and language. This book tackles the harms caused by colonialism, which goes beyond stealing land, but also erases culture and peoples.

At its heart, this book is about family and community. At times Shane may feel alone, like she has to take on her burdens by herself, but her friends and family are always there for her (dead or alive).

I also loved Rovina Cai's lovely illustrations at each chapter heading; they tell a story parallel to the main story, and they add another layer of depth.

Overall, this is book was written full of heart, and it shows <3

[read-alert]

[sassysnowperson]

Love forgetting about a preorder! Bonus points for this one - it's a prequel to a book I love, and thank you ADHD I completely forgot it existed. My past self got my current self an *amazing* surprise gift. Thank you past self!

(book is Sheine Lende, by Darcy Little Badger. It's a prequel to Elatsoe, which is one of my favorite slightly-more-magical earth books. The protagonist talks to animal ghosts! She uses fossils to hang out with trilobites! Human ghosts are a no no which makes it a Huge Problem when her cousin's ghost appears like 'cuz I was straight up murdered'. Great book, go read it, yay prequel!)

[screeching-lavender-sweater]

Reading Sheine Lende and have quite literally only gotten this far, but I NEEDED to sketch this part

[elliepassmore]

Sheine Lende review

5/5 stars Recommended if you like: urban fantasy, mystery, Indigenous storytelling, historical fantasy

Elatsoe review

Big thanks to Netgalley, Levine Querido, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed Elatsoe so I was super excited to see there was going to be a prequel about her grandmother! This book ends with the suggestion that there's more stories from this world to come, so I'm hoping we get something from four/six-great-grandmother (more from Sheine Lende or Elatsoe would also be good, I'm not picky)

Much like with Ellie, Shane's story centers around a mystery, though this one is a missing person's case and not a murder. Shane's mother, Lorenza, utilizes her dogs and ghost dog to find people who are missing. More recently Shane has begun helping her and the two make a good ghost-calling, person-finding duo. I liked reading about how they tracked people down and how their work got spread around by word-of-mouth.

I was a little confused on when this story occurred, so I found the author's note saying it was the 1970s to be helpful. In this world at this point in time, fairy rings are still being implemented and they're a relatively new technology still. It was interesting to see how people talked about them and the various opinions and worries people had, especially considering they're so present in Ellie's time. The missing person's case is tied up closely with fairy rings, though in a somewhat unusual way, so there was some light dealings with the Fair Folk and, more interestingly, with an ex-academic who specialized in them.

When her mother disappears, Shane takes over both the investigation for the missing kid(s) and the investigation for her mother's disappearance. She actually finds the older girl pretty quickly, and by complete accident, and they have a chance to spend some time together and bond before they make it back to everyone else. I liked that Shane and Donnie became fast friends and were eager to help one another out. I also appreciated that Donnie's grandparents were more than willing to travel with the girls and Shane's younger brother, Marco, to various places in order to find Donnie's younger brother (the missing boy) and Shane's mom.

Despite having a few family members remaining, Shane has a good support system, from her friend Amelia, to their elderly neighbor, to her newfound friendship with Donnie and the help of Donnie's grandparents. Ellie has that too in her book, but she starts that way, Shane starts by feeling alone and I feel for this type of YA adventure, having a large support system of mixed teenagers and adults really breaks the mold. I also liked that the adults, particularly the newer ones, were willing to defer ton Shane's expertise and research and didn't just insist they were right.

Shane is confident in herself, though not to the point of ego, and is able to draw on her knowledge, what her mother taught her, and her own investigative skills to connect dots and come up with next steps. She's overall friendly but knows when to put her foot down and is more than capable of being firm and even intimidating when necessary. She's still coming into her ghost-raising power, so I also liked seeing her knowledge and experimentation in that area.

Beyond the mystery element, this book also deals with trauma, family, and the effects of colonialism. Shane, Marcos, and Lorenza definitely had a hard time for a while, are technically still having a hard time, and it's a direct result of historical and modern colonialist greed. The family also suffered some major losses when Shane was younger, resulting in there being only a few family members and the dispersal of their home community. Shane and Marcos both still have a lot of emotions about that, albeit different ones since Marcos was in utero when this was going on and only knows the aftermath. Shane also struggles with not knowing or misremembering traditional Lipan stories and has several moments when she deeply wishes there were community members around she could engage with. It was definitely heartbreaking to read about those aspects, but I did enjoy seeing Shane begin to set them to rights. I also think the loss of their original support system and the growth of a different one help mirror each other and the path of healing in the story.

Overall I liked this story and think it stands well both on its own and as an addition to the world of Elatsoe. Shane definitely has an interesting story, and I would say this book serves as both a mystery and a healing journey. I'm looking forward to whatever Little Badger writes next!

[demisexualnathanvuornos]

Sheine Lende/ Shané łénde/ Sheiné łénde by Darcie Little Badger; art by Rovina Cai (2024) 3/ 4

[naa-oli]

Possible Marcos Solé fanart.

[aroaessidhe]

I had to get myself a copy of Sheiné łénde

[layaart]

Sheiné łénde cover redesign, for fun!

[readordiebyemilyt]

I didn't know that this book existed until yesterday, and now I'm so delighted that I only have to wait until April to check it out!

[bookcub]

Finished Sheiné Łénde by Darcie Little Badger just before the new year ends! I will write my full review tomorrow. I am excited to talk about it with more people! I am so happy I got an arc and get to share a sneak peek review with everyone!

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Why am i just finding out that darcie little badger has a new book coming out?? AND its a elatsoe prequel??!?!??