The fragments that remain

Lac Seul First Nation author Angeconeb's debut offers an unfiltered look at grief, substance abuse, codependency, and healing. In part one, Andy writes to her recently deceased brother, Ally. Andy processes her grief gradually, slowly giving insight into their shared life and Ally's death. Andy and Ally considered themselves honorary twins, born within a year of each other. They mirrored each other and shared everything: friends, clothes, a bedroom. Still, Andy tries to move on, pouring herself into her first year of college, working at the family bookshop, developing new friendships, and volunteering. Andy unexpectedly finds herself exploring her sexuality and even falling in love. When Andy discovers Ally's hidden poetry, she realizes how much Ally didn't share. Part two consists of Ally's poems, in which many emotions echo Andy's grief and disconnection. Part three focuses on Andy's healing journey--from heartbreak and Ally's death--through art and her Indigenous identity. Heavy with emotion, this novel has a slower pace that invites the reader to empathize with the characters. A tender, introspective journey.

Explores addiction, codependency, and love through a blend of poetry and prose. Born in Canada just 12 months apart to a "young urban Indigenous couple full of dreams," Alexander and Andria struggle with self-worth and identity in this debut by Anishinaabekweauthor Angeconeb. The "honorary twins," Andy the painter and Ally the poet, are mirrors of each other, but despite their close connection, they keep their struggles with emptiness hidden. Andy feels like "a hollow shell," and Ally is consumed by addiction. The first section focuses on Andy's feelings, relayed in vignettes and letters that begin "Dear Brother," as she describes watching Ally succumb to addiction. Unable to cope following his overdose death, she pushes friends away. After she discovers a shoebox of Ally's poems, she's confronted with the depth of his pain. The second section shifts to Ally's perspective, revealing his internal battles through his poetry: "i have no identity, / no sense of self." In the final section, Andy begins to face the weight of her grief, her feelings of powerlessness, and the ways she and her older brother lived through one another. She embarks on a healing journey, finding strength through friends and connecting with her cultural heritage across generations of colonial cultural dislocation. This introspective, character-driven novel in which events are relayed after the fact moves slowly, offering a powerful exploration of identity and trauma through its emotional depth. An affirming account of an Indigenous teen's experience with multiple forms of loss.(Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.