Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - 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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hannaemilia's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative tense

4.75

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rainys's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was a challenge to read as it's content was frustrating and disturbing. The translation was very good and ready to read. The characters were memorable and you just wanted good things for them. The author presented information about the Sami people and their lack of justice with the police and local people. Trigger warning for grahic violence against animals, sucide, stalking and threatening death, pregnancy bleeding.

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haileyhardcover's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

August 9th is World Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In anticipation and observance of the holiday, I’ve been spending some time learning about the Sámi people. The only indigenous people of Europe, the Sámi’s ancestral lands are in an area known as Sápmi, spanning the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and part of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. During my research, I stumbled upon this book.

Stolen tells the story of Elsa, a young Sámi girl who witnesses the poaching of a beloved reindeer, Nástegallu. This traumatizing event is only the beginning for Elsa, as she grows up and continues to witness against racism and xenophobia, unchecked mental health struggles in her community, climate change, and ever-present threat to their reindeer and, thereby, their very ways of life.

Strong TW for animal torture and death. At several points, I had to just put this book down and cry after reading some of the descriptions; but I still think they were important to include. Though technically fictional, Stolen is inspired by real events, and these are horrific experiences that Sámi reindeer herders experience.

There is more than just trauma in these pages, though. While portraying the very real struggles that the Sámi experience, Laestadius, a Sámi woman herself, also clearly wrote this as a love letter to her culture and community. We get wonderful glimpses into culture, food, clothing, tradition. Though my Swedish didn’t come in handy very often, I enjoyed learning some new Sámi vocab words as well!

If you’re looking to broaden your knowledge of other cultures, I highly recommend Stolen. Before I was even halfway through, I pre-ordered Laestadius’ next book, Punished, which is also inspired by the true events of Sámi children taken from their families to state-mandated “nomad schools” - Scandinavian versions of the residential schools that Native American children were forced into in the US and Canada.

Netflix has adapted Stolen into a movie which was released in April of this year. I’ll be spending my afternoon watching the movie!

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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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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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jenferlizbeth's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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ellieswilliams's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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