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Hunting by Stars

Written by: Cherie Dimaline
Narrated by: Meegwun Fairbrother, Michelle St. John
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Publisher's Summary

National best seller

The thrilling follow-up to the best-selling, award-winning novel The Marrow Thieves, about a dystopian world where the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted for their bone marrow and ability to dream.

Years ago, when plagues and natural disasters killed millions of people, much of the world stopped dreaming. Without dreams, people are haunted, sick, mad, unable to rebuild. The government soon finds that the Indigenous people of North America have retained their dreams, an ability rumored to be housed in the very marrow of their bones. Soon, residential schools pop up — or are re-opened — across the land to bring in the dreamers and harvest their dreams.

Seventeen-year-old French lost his family to these schools and has spent the years since heading north with his new found family: a group of other dreamers, who, like him, are trying to build and thrive as a community. But then French wakes up in a pitch-black room, locked in and alone for the first time in years, and he knows immediately where he is — and what it will take to escape.

Meanwhile, out in the world, his found family searches for him and dodges new dangers — school Recruiters, a blood cult, even the land itself. When their paths finally collide, French must decide how far he is willing to go — and how many loved ones is he willing to betray — in order to survive.

This engrossing, action-packed, deftly-drawn novel expands on the world of Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning The Marrow Thieves, and it will haunt listeners long after the final chapter.

©2021 Cherie Dimaline (P)2021 Penguin Teen
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What the critics say

2022, Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy, Short-listed

2022, First Nations Communities Read Award, Long-listed

2022, The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence - Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book, Short-listed

"Ultimately a hopeful ode to community, identity, and found family, Hunting By Stars is timely, powerful, and un-put-downable." (YALSA)

A Kobo “Top 20 of 2021” book of the year

An Indigo Best Teen Sci-Fi & Fantasy Book (2021)

An NPR Best Book of 2021

A Good Morning America Buzz Pick

The Cityline Book Club Pick for December 2021

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What listeners say about Hunting by Stars

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An epic sequel

If you’re like me and felt their NEEDED to be a sequel to the Marrow Thieves then you are in for a treat. The adventure… no, the nightmare… no, the quest for survival continues right where we left off. Ghosts of past lives come back to haunt and tempt. New characters join the crew. It’s epic. It’s brave. It’s heartbreaking. It’s a must read. Well done 👏

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Great Storytelling

I was so happy to learn there was a continuation to the story. I was both invested in the outcome and curious to it's unfolding. I am very please with the performance by both Meegwun Fairbrother and Michelle St. John
I will definitely be looking forward to more books by First Nations Authors.

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Such a great listen!

Well written and well performed! Quite the adventure and haunting social commentary. I hope a third book is on the way!

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Chi Nishin!

A fantastic job all around. The readers did a great job with a wonderful story!

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Just as Disturbing and Engaging as the First Novel!

Excellent read! It continues the story of French and Rose and the plight of Indigenous people in a post apocalyptic world. It’s not as fast passed or emotional as Marrow Thieves, yet I couldn’t put it down.

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A blessing 🙌

I was so excited to read the second book I finished it in a few days.

It is written beautifully and with so many details I felt immersed in the story. Much like the first one I couldn't put it down.

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misleading

I thought it was written by an actual Indigenous person. To learn she's Georgian Bay "Métis" was upsetting to say the least

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Poor Narration Dragged it Down

I’ve read The Marrow Thieves and Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline and this was my favourite of those books. I wasn’t going to read this novel, but my sister-in-law convinced me to give it a try.

This novel feels less YA than The Marrow Thieves and more Post Apocalyptic. The story picks up where The Marrow Thieves ended but took a long time to get going. Once it did, around the halfway point, it got exciting.

Characters in the book are forced to make tough decisions that ratcheted up the tension and my enjoyment of the novel. French felt like a genuine person.

While I enjoyed French’s point of view, Rose’s point of view frustrated me. At one point she encounters a man who asks Rose to take his young son as he, the man, is dying. Rose says no because she doesn’t want to put the boy in danger, but she doesn’t point out the nearby camp of friendly indigenous people that the man and his son could get to. Infuriating.

Earlier in the story, Rose encountered a gender non-binary person and instantly the narrative refers to this person as they. It was confusing, especially since the character didn’t self identify as non-binary until over 30 minutes later. I’ve seen this handled better in other novels when the point of view character encounters a non-binary person, misidentifies their gender, realizes their error, and then refers to the person as they/them.

Dimaline’s writing style sometimes comes across as lacking in experience, even though she has written several novels, and both of the above points are examples of that. Would Rose really not point the man and his son towards the camp? Would Rose know someone is non-binary just by looking at them? Mistakes like these took me out of the story.

The message of the story is of course important and overall well delivered.

If you’ve liked Dimaline’s other works I believe you’ll appreciate this novel.

I did not enjoy either narrator. Michelle St. John also narrated Empire of Wild, and I didn’t enjoy her narration there and when I heard her voice in this audiobook I was instantly put off. I find that the only tone she has is angry, and that doesn’t always fit with the story. The other narrator, Meegwun Fairbrother, speaks so slowly. I increased the audio playback to 1.25%, and I rarely ever adjust the playback speed. This might have been the third time I’ve ever done that.

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