November Intermission: Where They Last Saw Her (2024) - Marcie R. Rendon

Hi there!

Welcome to our November Intermission for Marcie R. Rendon's 2024 Where They Last Saw Her.

Trigger Warning: Murder, Stalking, Abduction, Child Abduction, Racism, Mention of Domestic Abuse, Mention of Hard Drugs, Date Rape Drug Emergency, Administration of Narcan Needle, Taser Deployment, Male Aggression, Protest Marching, Grief.

Overall

So far, part one has been interesting, and we like the book so far. It's definitely meant to bring attention to the real-world problem of MMIWR. That being said, this book is a perfect read for those who like strong female characters and a solid murder mystery. Things can't "just happen" on the reservation anymore. Things need to change, and bad behavior needs to be addressed. Crimes can no longer be excused because the person was seen as not valuable and invisible. Speaking up and the importance of relationships are standing out to us in the first half of the book. Speaking up; no action will happen unless someone who cares a ton pushes for it. And the importance of relationships really makes itself known in the sense that Quill has people she can go to for support and action, even when the police are being sucky, and Quill may feel like she has nowhere else to go.

Quill, Punk, and Gaylyn

Quill refuses to be a silent bystander to the crimes in her community. She is a catalyst for digging into the information and is a star of being inquisitive in a smaller Reservation. None of the inquiry into the missing Mabel would have happened without her choice to say something or do something about it. Quill's need to act is reflective of her knowledge that her personal history and background make her a target. She sees the women who are being abducted, and sees herself. It's not that these horrible things are happening in the town. It's that these things are happening to people who, if the timing had been just slightly different, could have been her.

Punk and Gaylyn support Quill in immeasurable ways. They offer to help her by being with her everywhere she goes. They definitely have a women-supporting-women type of relationship.

The Police

The police in this story, so far, are taking a backseat to Quill, and they are so far only side characters. That being said, Brieanna thinks they're sucky in part one and that we'll hear more from them in part two. They, so far, have proven they are doing the bare minimum, which deserves no celebrating at this point.

The Mystery

The mystery in the book is simple: young women and girls are going missing on this reservation around the same time that a cross-country pipeline is being constructed in the area. A ton of white out-of-state dude-bros are getting away with whatever they want. Mabel went missing after work one night, never returned home, and two mornings later, Quill heard a scream in the woods. That's all we really know about her. The storyline involving Julie and Lisa ends with Lisa also disappearing. Then, we have a young girl kidnapped from the grocery store bathroom, who, sadly, at the end of Chapter 13, turns up deceased. What the FUCK is going on in this town? And WHY isn't there more OUTRAGE? Maybe that's the whole point of this book. WHERE is the outrage? Why is the world so quiet about this? Bystander culture pervades this reservation, and we expect to hear more in part two. Seems like there's nothing to be done. And that's baffling.

On some reservations, Native women face murder rates more than ten times the national average. These disappearances and murders are often directly linked to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, sex trafficking, and longstanding harms impacting Indigenous communities. - https://www.niwrc.org/mmiwr-awareness

Where We Go From Here

We hope that the two women are found, and we hope that the douchebags who did these crimes are caught and receive their comeuppance. Fingers crossed.

With love, see you soon!

Ceraya & Brieanna