20. A debut novel: Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

List Progress: 5/30

Atmosphere can carry a novel, especially a horror novel, very far. Right off the bat, Nick Medina’s 2023 debut Sisters of the Lost Nation is drenched in a rich, haunted atmosphere, where everything feels dangerous and every shadow is full of monsters. Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of plot that takes place within that atmosphere, and this can make the novel drag at times. But for a debut, it’s a far better choice to start with a strong flavor and work out the nuances of plotting later.

In 1990’s Louisiana, Native teenager Anna Horn feels caught between different worlds. Her tribe’s reservation has been rocked by the opening of a casino, and going to a mostly-white high school as an androgynous Native girl has made her a huge target for bullies. Her younger sister Grace yearns to appease their tormentors and get in with the popular crowds, but Anna instead finds solace in collections of tribal stories left by a previous elder who was murdered when Anna was a child. When Native girls start disappearing in ways that may be related to the casino, Anna isn’t sure whether the causes are mundane or if they might be paranormal in nature, and how she can best keep her head down while still keeping Grace out of harm’s way. It’s a lot of tension to set up and it works well. 

However, the first two thirds of the novel alternate between the day Grace goes missing and the month leading up to her disappearance, which feels like an acknowledgement that not too much actually happens up until the disappearance and the opening exposition needs to be intercut with later events in order to make it engaging. This juxtaposition works overall, but a fair amount could have been cut to speed things up without losing much of the actual structure.

But on the whole, Sisters of the Lost Nation tells a rich, important story and the relationship between Grace and Anna feels real and lived in. Grace has more depth than a stereotypical teenage character, and Anna is not entirely blameless in their conflicts, which makes it easier to get caught up in the drama. There are still issues that Medina will hopefully work out in future books, but this is a strong, haunting debut.

Would I Recommend It: Yes.