February 2020 Group Read #2: Moon of the Crusted Snow

[Jon Recluse]

Our second Group Read for February is Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice.

Please use spoilers, page counts or percentages read.

[Jennifer]

I have a copy of this on my book shelf. Nice to read it with a group.

[Marie Helene]

I'm in 😃

[Feli]

That sounds interesting and could be used for at least two of my challenges :D I'm in and hope to get a copy soon

[Marie Helene]

I've ordered my copy this morning :)

[April]

I just ordered my copy. I'm pretty excited about this. I haven't been in a group read in a while. It's nice to be back.

[Jennifer]

I just started this last night.

[Susan]

starting today

[Bear]

Ordering a copy. Glad an actual indigenous author made the cut.

[Feli]

I ordered my copy but it won't arrive before the end of next week. So I will just start with the Wendigo and join you here when I have my copy. Very excited about this group read already :)

[Jennifer]

I am almost done. While maybe not true horror, it is a very scary and potentially real scenario. I have enjoyed the perspective from Evan. I live in Alaska so some things hit very close to home for me, the type of forest, hunting moose. Not being able to source food is well...not good. Most stores/communities have enough food for 3 days.

April, does your tribe keep a food cache or do any hunting or traditional gathering?

[April]

Jennifer wrote: "I am almost done. While maybe not true horror, it is a very scary and potentially real scenario. I have enjoyed the perspective from Evan. I live in Alaska so some things hit very close to home for..."

Lots of people hunt but do not rely on hunting solely for our food. We are in the southeast corner of NC bordering SC and the beaches like Myrtle Beach. The Lumbee are 55k + members (largest tribe east of the Mississippi) but we're not on a reservation and lots of us own our own land and live in modern conditions unlike our brothers and sisters in the west who do live on reservations and rely on our government and nature. Hunting is a large part of our lives and many rely on it, but again, it is not solely relied on for our food.
Thanks so much for inquiring.

[Jennifer]

April wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I am almost done. While maybe not true horror, it is a very scary and potentially real scenario. I have enjoyed the perspective from Evan. I live in Alaska so some things hit very ..."

Thank you for sharing!

[Jennifer]

I finished yesterday. (view spoiler)[ I felt the ending became a little rushed and would have liked about 75 more pages (hide spoiler)] Overall I liked the story.

[Kelly]

My copy just came in! Starting it today. :)

[Alabama]

I am reading this am about half way through, reall enjoying it very different feel and take on the apocalypse, I really like Evan and the sense of community.

[Alabama]

Have finished thought it was fantastic, there is a slow and chilling realisation of things going wrong at the beginning. It has a haunting quality.
I loved the snippets of culture and language throughout and enjoyed reading about the community and how it runs.

[Michael]

Glad to be joining in on this one. I'll start reading right after I receive my copy.

[Stephanie]

I really enjoyed this one but I will say that I would have loved it to have been longer. Definitely feel there were areas which could have been expanded on/more detailed.

[Feli]

I started a few days ago but don't have much time too read right now.
I am only a few chapters in, but I'm really enjoying this. Evans perspective is great, I love how he tells the story. As Alabama Vee mentioned above, the slow realisation of things going wrong and what this could mean for all of them is well done.
I hope to be able to read a few chapters this weekend.

[Michael]

I'm about 1/4 through the book, and enjoying it. I'm impressed with the pacing and writing style. (view spoiler)[I liked how the introduction to Evan and the village created a sense of well-being, calmness, and community. When the power fails, things begin to fracture, and the sense of community begins to crack. I thought the build-up to this was appropriately slow, and more effective because of it. (hide spoiler)]

[Feli]

I am nearly done and I am really enjoying this. I like the writing and all those personal and family moments with Evan.
About Scott (view spoiler)[I just don't know if I like the parts about him. I would have loved to see how the community would have dealt with the situation without some outsider 'interrupting'. I don't like him (okay, he maybe isn't meant to be liked) and I am not sure if I like how this will all turn out. There are only a few pages left for me and I have a pretty good feeling I won't like the ending..) (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

I forgot to post that I finished this book. It was good, but I felt the conclusion was far too fast.

[Michael]

I finished. Great book. Here's my (mostly spoiler-free) review . . . .
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[April]

I decided to give this book another chance, and I’m so glad I did. But it wasn’t available to me until today March 1. I really enjoyed it. Loved the language and hearing the stories told to the children, it reminded me of my elders who have passed and the stories they told.
Some people thought the ending was rushed, but I thought it was sufficient. Scott was big and towered over everyone just huge I think it was only fitting that he was quickly taken down by a woman his opposite.
When Ilene talked about the apocalypse she said, -our world has ended again and again, but we survived, even if the power and the radios don’t come back on and we never see white people again, we will still be here, we will survive.- it was like saying their apocalypse would be like starting over, going back to the beginning before their land was discovered, back when no one lived there but the tribes. She was saying that’s the way it use to be and it can be that way again. We will survive. The truth in that was stunning and calming and even Evan felt the burden lifted.
I really enjoyed this story I just hate I missed reading it with everyone.

[Feli]

Glad you read and enjoyed the book, April!
I enjoyed the story, too. I didn't think the ending was rushed, but still I wasn't that satisfied with it. But that's because I didn't like the 'Scott-part' at all. I would have liked to read much more about the community itself and how they handled the situation.

I was just a bit confused by the 'Acknowlegdement' part. Rice talks there about a Windigo which is the same as a Wendigo, I think, and that he hinted at it in the story.
Does he mean the Dream Evan had about Scott? Were there other parts I missed? While reading I didn't get the impression of a Wendigo. (view spoiler)[of course, the whole man eating part at the end could be going in that direction, but I thought the Wendigo is so much more than 'just a cannibal'. Is Scott meant to be a Wendigo after all? And that's why we never get to know where he came from? I am not sure if this is too far fetched, but Rice's mentioning of it confused me after finished the book 😂 (hide spoiler)]

[April]

Feli wrote: "Glad you read and enjoyed the book, April!
I enjoyed the story, too. I didn't think the ending was rushed, but still I wasn't that satisfied with it. But that's because I didn't like the 'Scott-par..."

I also agree that the ending was as satisfying as it could have been, and about the dreams of Scott.