Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Das Leuchten der Rentiere

Elsa is only 9 years old when Robert threatens to kill her if she tells anyone he killed her reindeer. As a Sámi in Sweden, Elsa and her family face xenophobia all the time but it gets increasingly worse as they begin to report the reindeer poaching they experience. Starting when Elsa was 9, reindeer in her family's collective begin to show up decapitated, mutilated, and missing body parts. Their reports go unsolved and the tension causes rampant issues within their family and collective. I think this book was really interesting when it was focusing on the main points of the book but it often went off topic and droned on. Once the book hit 80% it ramped up and I really enjoyed it. Even when it was slow I was hooked.

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eemadeeberry's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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willardbug's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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franzeerdbeerbacke's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

I know very little about Sámi culture, so this novel ended up being really insightful in learning more about modern Sámi life and the discrimination they face in Swedish society. Laestadius presented a number of nuanced situations for the Sámi community in her novel, such as the challenges of upholding tradition in a time of modernization, generational trauma, as well as gender roles (especially as a reindeer herder). Importantly, though, Laestadius is concerned with exploring the tensions between the Sámi community and non-Sámi community, particularly when dealing with law enforcement. The message is a little heavy-handed, which is that it’s clear she wants to draw attention to the injustices that indigenous peoples face when dealing with authoritative figures.

Structurally, I admit that I had some difficulty getting into this one. I don’t know if it was the particularly short chapters or what, but I was a bit thrown off by the overall pacing of the novel. I think another thing that didn’t quite work for me was that, while situations were explored with nuance, many of the characters themselves lacked complexity. I did feel that Laestadius set the reader up for a good versus evil story with how the characters were depicted. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, it did make everything read as somewhat reductive.

One last thing I would add is that this novel is definitely not one for those who get squeamish about animal cruelty and death, as Laestadius does not shy away from describing the horrific killing of reindeer, also adding considerable emotional depth in losing them, especially since reindeer are more than “just animals” in Sámi culture.

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booksandabackpack's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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geerbeer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Heftige omschrijvingen, maar wauw! Voor iemand die de cultuur niet kent is het ontzettend leerzaam en je voelt enorm mee met de personages en dieren in het boek. Elke keer was ik weer in 'awe' over hoe mensen toch prachtig in verbinding kunnen staan met de aarde, haar flora en fauna en al zo snel zien dat het klimaat naar de klote gaat. Ontzettend mooi!

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esmeloa's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

What a story. I was drawn by the cover and its reindeer being cut in parts.
It's such a complex, intricate web of human relationships and feelings that it's hard to describe.
I never knew about the Sámi people before reading this book, and reading it prompted me to do some research and watch the movie ''Sámi blood" which was somewhat complementary to this book - the MC is a little girl who wants a different life, where the MC of Stolen is a little girl who wants nothing else than being a reindeer herder.
One small complaint with this book is that it felt a bit long and repetitive towards the second part,

with reindeer repetively being killer one after the other

, but I understood this narrative choice during the last chapters of the story. The ending had me crying in a way I really didn't expect - it was absolutely cathartic.

The scenes with Elsa talking to Ljungblad, finally revealing what she kept for 11 years (and 370 pages) and hearing him reply "yes, actually I do" when she asked if she believed them... just wow.

Another complaint, much more personal and probably missing the point, is how human centered the story felt at times. This is a story about humans so it makes sense - I just couldn't help feeling for the reindeers who are ultimately used by humans, whether as means to hurt the Sámi people or as means of survival for them. It was definitely a painful read as someone who does not eat meat and is strongly against animal cruelty.
Other than that I did find the book fantastic, very skillfully written and really informative.
I really liked the discourse on female roles within the community as well, and all female characters with their unique minds and ways to cope were rather well portrayed in my opinion - I actually felt for Anna-Stina,

especially when criticized by her mother, depicted as shallow for wanting the housewife life - although maybe that's her own way to cope. Because what about her grief? She's not been a great friend to Elsa perhaps, but I did feel like the story did not explore this character enough - the why and the what's going on inside her mind.

whose relationship with her mother was also really interesting to follow.
This book will definitely stay in my heart and in the person I become, and I'm very grateful for it.

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