Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden: A Book Review
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
David Heska Wanbli Weiden had a lot to talk about when he sat down to write and it shows. Following the story of a justice enforcer, Weiden depicts life on a Native American reservation – making clear that there the world is against the people. Being a Native American, himself, Weiden shows the injustices that are faced by his people through every trial faced and how as a community they need to turn to their heritage and spirituality for guidance. While the concept has potential, Weiden was unable to stand up to the ideas with his writing.
When first looking at the book, I kept seeing the word thriller being associated with it. Let me be straight, this book is not a thriller – not even scary. While there might be areas where Weiden tried to build suspense, any attempt was pitiful at best and, at worst, comical. Weiden also relied too heavily on the Native American aspect of the book. While wording, phrases, and rituals were authentic, nothing seemed natural in the setting of the book. For example, the main character, Virgil, is constantly thinking about his broken heart, but the idea of heart does not even play a part in the story making each attempt to bring it up just a plain annoyance. While Weiden was able to make a few surprises at the end, the “Ah-Ha” moment barely made ripples and no character seemed to make it beyond the second dimension.
In all honesty, I really don’t want to go more in depth as I feel like I am being harsh on the writer, but Weiden has his MFA. He should know how to write a fiction novel. My only excuse for poorness of this writing is that he had a lot of things he wanted to say. His editor should have made him cut things out, maybe look at the idea of a series, but instead everything is in the 318 pages.
I was thoroughly disappointed in this novel. Even more so, I am disappointed to give a low score to what could have been a great masterpiece.
Plot: 5/10
Characters: 2/10
Writing: 2/10
Editor: 2/10
Total: 11/40
Title: Winter Counts
Author: David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Edition: First Edition
Published: August 25, 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780062968944
If you want to get it: Amazon; Barnes&Noble
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