Tali Nohkati, a young boy, is the sole survivor of a fire. He is watched over by Coyote and Moon, creators of the world, as he grows into an adult and finds a tribe to belong to. Along the way he meets and is helped by a selection of animals.

This is an interesting tale, told in a mythic style. I liked that it was different to the types of books I usually read, with the talking animals and epic journey, told in a sweeping way rather than with heavy detail. The downside to this was that I didn’t feel much empathy with the characters. However, it is still an enjoyable story.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mythic tales and great journeys.

Thank you to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for the opportunity to read and review this title.

This book is written in a creation myth style, full of vivid imagery and wonder though I struggled to figure out whereabouts in a creation timeline the story takes place - there seems to be a lot of humans about for the second generation!

The main character, Tali, embarks on an epic journey and learns important lessons from the animals he meets along the way as he makes his way towards a human settlement. The characters in this book are very distant so it's hard to build more than a passing sympathy with them - the beauty of this book is in the message it conveys.

This is very much a coming of age story, ripe with meaningful subtext. The narrative was a little confusing in places, turning unexpected and jarring 180s and heading off in a new direction, never to discuss the things left behind again. It felt a little like large chunks of the story had been edited out and not put back together quite right, I would have preferred a longer book.

All in all, this book was a relaxing and enjoyable read - I enjoyed the first half over the second as it had more animal interactions and really embraced the fantastical side of the story.

I loved this! I have been very interested in the folk tales and myths of Native Americans for a long time. This was a wonderful collection of stories that follow why the seasons change and such. The writing is beautiful, and the stories flow naturally. I hope more of the authors works get translated.

I absolutely loved this quick read. The themes and narration all reminded me of the native folktales my parents used to read to me when I was younger. Tali Nohkati's journey to finding a tribe is a heart-warming tale about resilience, friendship, and compassion.

Thank you to Koza Belleli, Black Rose Writing, and Netgalley for providing a digital copy for me to review. As always, all opinions are my own.

This book tells the story about a journey within a journey, we meet the main character Tali as he grows up and goes through different experiences and the animal and people who help him overcome them. Overall, the book was a quick read but with such a sweet story. But most of all I'm happy that the book while having some sad moments was very much a positive story with a happy ending.

This book was fairly confusing. It's a journey followed by a journey followed by a journey, and I struggled to figure out where geographically they were. I thought that the people he meets after the plains and Zia Zia was Native Americans, but the horsemen appeared and I became unsure. Horses arrived in America with the white man. Then I thought They might be in Mongolia or something, but it didn't really add up. Considering its journeys, it's natural for a reader to want to understand where the character is.

I wasn't a big fan of the writing style either but that might be due to the typical French way of writing. It's very detached and objective.


The character meets a lot of talking animals and learns their trade so to speak. He travels in a whale's stomach. Survives the dessert with a snake. Rides a crocodile down a flood. There is a lot happening but with the detached voice, it's difficult to care about them.

I was a bit disappointed with the gender roles displayed in this book. I know Native Americans and First Nationer is more connected to the being of humans and nature. They have throughout history had a mix of gender doing a mix of jobs. They even have a two-spirited tradition for what the western culture would now call trans or non-binary genders. This book separates the genders completely. Women collected stuff, kept the campsite, made food, etc, while the men hunted and protected. I don't believe this is how they lived. I believe there were female warriors and hunters as well as male cooks. I feel Native Americans were not strict on their gender-separation of their communities. But hey, what do I know.

This was a cute story about an Indigenous boy's journey across (from what I could tell) the Americas and the animals and people that guided him along the way. I like how it was written like it was being told around a campfire, like it was written as it was being spoken. I like trying to figure out where he was by the description of the environment. I enjoyed it, though I started losing interest when he runs away with the girl, but then it picks up again shortly after. Overall a good, quick read. I would read more from this author in the future.

I happily received this ARC courtesy of NetGalley(Thank you so much!) This story played out like a movie in my head. I enjoyed what I read and appreciated learning something about the world from another culture. The way this story was told enhanced my enjoyment. I felt like i was listening to an elder tell me the story of their ancestors. I can't wait until this has an accompanying audio book because I bet the names sound beautiful spoken out loud.

I"m glad that at last through all of the hardships and moving that Tali Nohkati finally found a happy ending.

3/5 stars. This book sounded so interesting as it's about an Indigenous main character. But it was confusing. Very very confusing, I'm not sure if something got lost in the translation, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out where the story was set until the last few chapters of the book, as it mentioned Macaws and Jaguars. I did like the fact that there were different animals helping the main character along his journey, but other than that, this book just didn't live up to what I thought it was going to be about.