Thirteenth Child

I've read this book many times. I really like the strong female lead (and several of the other female characters). I love the power/gravitas that the POC characters have. But, I always cringe because in this alternate version of the US, there are no native people. They don't exist, and presumably never existed. I understand intellectually that part of the conceit of the book is that North America is a dangerous place to live because of magical monsters, so on the one hand there can't have been inhabitants when the "Avrupan" (European) settlers came. But, I can't help but feel that the author has erased a complete set of people.

When I read this book, I found it fabulously entertaining. It's an interesting world, an interesting story, and a great book to read. However, I've since read some criticisms of the book as being racist because it features an alternate history of North America in which there are no Native Americans, or at least, they aren't mentioned in the book. Upon reflection on the book, I can see how this could be viewed as a painful erasure. So I would call this a highly interesting, but problematic book.