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The Circle
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“The Circle is a polyphonic masterpiece.” —Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse
From the award-winning and #1 bestselling author of The Break and The Strangers comes a poignant and unwavering epic told from a constellation of Métis voices that consider the fallout when the person who connects them all goes missing
The concept was simple. You sit a bunch of people in a circle—everyone who hurt, everyone who got hurt, all affected—and let them share. Some people, it helped them heal, for sure. Others went in angry and left a different kind of angry. Learned how the blame belonged on the system, the history, the colonizer, the big things that were harder to change than one bad person.
The day that Cedar Sage Stranger has been both dreading and longing for has finally her sister Phoenix is getting out of prison.
The effect of Phoenix’s release cascades through the community. M, the young girl whom she assaulted, is triggered by the news. Her mother, Paulina, is worried and her cousin is angry—all feel the threat of Phoenix’s release. When Phoenix is seen lingering outside the school to catch a glimpse of her son, Sparrow, the police get a call to file a report—but the next thing they know, she has disappeared.
Amid accusations and plots for revenge, past grievances become a poor guide in a moment of danger, and the clumsy armature of law enforcement is no match for the community. Cedar and her and Phoenix’s mother, Elsie, continue down different paths of healing, while everyone in their lives form a circle around the chaos, the calm within the storm, and the beauty in the darkness.
Fierce, heartbreaking, and profound, Vermette’s The Circle is the third and final companion novel to her bestsellers The Break and The Strangers. Told from various perspectives, with an unforgettable voice for each chapter, the novel is masterfully structured as a Restorative Justice Circle where all gather—both the victimized and the accused—to take account of a crime that has altered the course of their lives. It considers what it means to be abandoned by the very systems that claim to offer support, how it feels to gain a sense of belonging, and the unanticipated cost of protecting those you love most.
“The Circle is a polyphonic masterpiece.” —Erika T. Wurth, author of White Horse
From the award-winning and #1 bestselling author of The Break and The Strangers comes a poignant and unwavering epic told from a constellation of Métis voices that consider the fallout when the person who connects them all goes missing
The concept was simple. You sit a bunch of people in a circle—everyone who hurt, everyone who got hurt, all affected—and let them share. Some people, it helped them heal, for sure. Others went in angry and left a different kind of angry. Learned how the blame belonged on the system, the history, the colonizer, the big things that were harder to change than one bad person.
The day that Cedar Sage Stranger has been both dreading and longing for has finally her sister Phoenix is getting out of prison.
The effect of Phoenix’s release cascades through the community. M, the young girl whom she assaulted, is triggered by the news. Her mother, Paulina, is worried and her cousin is angry—all feel the threat of Phoenix’s release. When Phoenix is seen lingering outside the school to catch a glimpse of her son, Sparrow, the police get a call to file a report—but the next thing they know, she has disappeared.
Amid accusations and plots for revenge, past grievances become a poor guide in a moment of danger, and the clumsy armature of law enforcement is no match for the community. Cedar and her and Phoenix’s mother, Elsie, continue down different paths of healing, while everyone in their lives form a circle around the chaos, the calm within the storm, and the beauty in the darkness.
Fierce, heartbreaking, and profound, Vermette’s The Circle is the third and final companion novel to her bestsellers The Break and The Strangers. Told from various perspectives, with an unforgettable voice for each chapter, the novel is masterfully structured as a Restorative Justice Circle where all gather—both the victimized and the accused—to take account of a crime that has altered the course of their lives. It considers what it means to be abandoned by the very systems that claim to offer support, how it feels to gain a sense of belonging, and the unanticipated cost of protecting those you love most.
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First published September 5, 2023
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About the author
Katherena Vermette
35 books1,299 followersKatherena Vermette is a Canadian writer, who won the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry in 2013 for her collection North End Love Songs. Vermette is of Metis descent and from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was a MFA student in creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
Her children's picture book series The Seven Teachings Stories was published by Portage and Main Press in 2015. In addition to her own publications, her work has also been published in the literary anthology Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water. She is a member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective of Manitoba, and edited the anthology xxx ndn: love and lust in ndn country in 2011.
Vermette has described her writing as motivated by an activist spirit, particularly on First Nations issues. The title of her book refers to Winnipeg's North End.
Her children's picture book series The Seven Teachings Stories was published by Portage and Main Press in 2015. In addition to her own publications, her work has also been published in the literary anthology Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water. She is a member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective of Manitoba, and edited the anthology xxx ndn: love and lust in ndn country in 2011.
Vermette has described her writing as motivated by an activist spirit, particularly on First Nations issues. The title of her book refers to Winnipeg's North End.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 368 reviews
September 22, 2023
The third and final book about the Stranger Family.
It felt comfortable to be back with the Strangers again, but I admit I didn't get into this book as completely as I did The Break and The Strangers. It just didn't feel as thoroughly fleshed-out as the other two—almost as though Vermette wasn't certain how she should wrap it all up. Still, it was absolutely worth the read!
I hope she writes another stand-alone novel or begins a new series soon. I'll be first in line to buy it!
3.5 stars, rounded up.
It felt comfortable to be back with the Strangers again, but I admit I didn't get into this book as completely as I did The Break and The Strangers. It just didn't feel as thoroughly fleshed-out as the other two—almost as though Vermette wasn't certain how she should wrap it all up. Still, it was absolutely worth the read!
I hope she writes another stand-alone novel or begins a new series soon. I'll be first in line to buy it!
3.5 stars, rounded up.
September 8, 2023
Ben ran Circles for a while. Restorative justice, they called it. Another rip-off of an old way. The concept was simple. You sit a bunch of people in a circle — everyone who hurt, everyone who got hurt, all affected — and let them share. They talk about themselves, say about how they have changed, how their lives are after this thing that happened. People who harmed others got to hear how they hurt, who they hurt, how bad it was. Those who were victimized got to hear what the people who hurt them were like, where they came from, what made them do what they did, that they’re really people. Some people, it helped them heal, for sure.
The Circle is the third volume in a trilogy (after The Break and The Strangers), and while I suppose this could stand alone, I can’t imagine it would be as impactful if you hadn’t met the characters before. As the title (and that opening quote) suggests, this novel reads like a Restorative Justice Circle — centred on the horrific crime related in The Break — with multiple characters given the space to explain and demonstrate how those events affected them over the intervening six years. Once again, Katherena Vermette shares the reality of Manitoba’s modern Métis experience — the stresses, joys, community, and intergenerational trauma — and without unduly blaming white settler culture for the destructive choices her characters sometimes make, she also shows a community getting stronger through a reconnection with their roots. There’s good stuff in here, and the plot will satisfy anyone who wants to know how the Strangers turn out, but for me, there was something missing this time around: I didn’t cry; this failed to move me. Still I’m glad I read this and am regretfully rounding down to three stars. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
I feel like I’ve been waiting for my sister to get out of prison my whole life, and now that it’s here I don’t want it. It’s not fair. Not for Phoenix, who has waited for this, not for me, who has managed to build up this new life, one I never thought I could ever even have, just to lose it all in not even a year. I didn’t know lives like this existed.
Two years into university — and after living off-campus with a group of friends who make up her beloved found family — Cedar Stranger is informed that her older sister, Phoenix, is about to be released from prison. Cedar isn’t pleased by the news (her relationship with the volatile Phoenix has always been complicated), and as POV rotates between multiple characters with their uniformly negative reactions to Phoenix’s release, ripples are sent through the community that initiate dramatic events. Even the girls’ mother, Elsie — who is finally sober and living in the bush with an Indigenous community and their Teacher — is hesitant to meet with her troubled daughter; but when Phoenix doesn’t show up for their coffee date — and later fails to check in with her halfway house on time — the novel takes on a tenser tone. The victim of the original crime, Emily (now known as “M”), is unsurprisingly broken and traumatised; but while she continues to hide herself away in her mother’s basement, M has found success in writing and illustrating a graphic novel series. Of this work the following is written:
Her book is the third of a planned trilogy. Hardest of all. For some reason she made up a bunch of new characters, stupidest thing she could have done. The world she made broken wide open, scattered about, with no idea what to do with it all. Endings are the worst.
So, that’s Vermette obviously acknowledging that she was taking a risk with this format — there are many new characters introduced; more than I could easily keep track of — and while extending a circle further and further away from the initial crime did show how those events rippled through the entire community, this also served to distance me from any kind of emotional connection with the characters. For me: the plot works to justify the format, but the format doesn’t do justice to the story.
He didn’t know how to be a man, not really, not a good one. Not one who took care of people or loved people, and loved himself. No one around him remembered enough of the Teachings to teach him that he was valuable. That everyone together makes this beautiful Circle and each one of us is so precious and important. No one around him even knew any of that, and everyone else seemed to treat him like he was vermin. Less than vermin. Vermin at least get a role in the world. He never got a role. He thought it was something he had done wrong. That’s the worst thing of colonialization, worst in a long, long list of the atrocities and numerous genocides, that it got into their minds and hearts. All those young people who were supposed to be leading, doing, being a part were instead thinking they were wrong. Instead of feeling good about themselves, they believed those lies. So many still believe, like he did, what they said about them, and forgot, because that was taken from them too, how it was supposed to be.
In a world where hurt people go on to hurt people, it is encouraging to see characters end abuse and self-harm through a return to Ceremony and traditional Teachings. Sweat lodges and Sundances — even adapting mindfulness techniques from other cultures — lead to healing and self-love; and while that doesn’t make everything perfect in the present, it does promise a brighter future for those who are reminded of their place in the circle. And that’s a pretty good note to end on.
September 23, 2023
The Circle by Katherena Vermette is the third book in a trilogy after The Break and The Strangers but it can be read as a standalone. It provides both a powerful and poignant look at the long-term effects of colonization and cross generational trauma as well as how the actions of one person can spread like ripples, touching the lives of so many others within the circles.
Phoenix, a young Metis woman is being released from prison after serving time for horrendous assaults on other young girls. It begins as Phoenix’s sister, Cedar, learns of her release, a day she has both looked forward to with anticipation and dreaded because she loves her sister but Ziggy, her best friend and perhaps someday more, was one of Phoenix’s victims. The story is told through mostly short chapters with each chapter devoted to the POV of a single character, each more or less affected by Phoenix’s release until returning to Cedar and Ziggy closing the circle. The Circle is a beautifully written story, the kind that will stay with the reader long after finishing the last paragraph and I recommend it highly.
I received an arc of this book from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review
Phoenix, a young Metis woman is being released from prison after serving time for horrendous assaults on other young girls. It begins as Phoenix’s sister, Cedar, learns of her release, a day she has both looked forward to with anticipation and dreaded because she loves her sister but Ziggy, her best friend and perhaps someday more, was one of Phoenix’s victims. The story is told through mostly short chapters with each chapter devoted to the POV of a single character, each more or less affected by Phoenix’s release until returning to Cedar and Ziggy closing the circle. The Circle is a beautifully written story, the kind that will stay with the reader long after finishing the last paragraph and I recommend it highly.
I received an arc of this book from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review
March 9, 2024
My least favorite book in a strong trilogy, about the lives of two Métis families in contemporary Winnipeg, connected by a terrible crime. It’s interesting how different each of the books is, and how they connect to each other: The Break is narrow in time but broad in character, mostly following the victim’s family; The Strangers is narrower in character but covers several years, exclusively following the perpetrator’s family. The Circle again covers a short period of time but is extremely broad in its cast: each of its 22 chapters is from a different perspective, including both families and other people tangentially related.
Structuring a novel as a metaphorical restorative justice circle is a cool idea, though I was relieved that there isn’t a literal restorative justice circle, which is probably not a good idea for these people and this crime. At the same time, it has its pitfalls. Vermette does a good job of keeping tabs on the major characters through other people’s point-of-view sections, but limiting each character to a chapter does distance the reader a bit from the central players. And where The Strangers showed a strong ability to differentiate character voices even in the third person, the deluge here makes them all sound fairly similar.
Meanwhile, some of the new people don’t really have anything to do, and so their entire sections consist of talking to a main character (Waaban), or worse, talking about a main character to third parties (Izzy), or worse still, just thinking about a main character’s backstory (Larry). If this were a restorative justice circle, I can’t say I’d care to hear this much from people whose connection to the crime is being mildly inconvenienced by the struggles of someone more seriously affected, and with this being the only snippet we see, it can make the minor characters’ inner lives look overly focused on someone who isn’t actually that important to them. I found the format most successful in catching us up on recurring secondary characters, whose chapters are often quite poignant: Ben, adjusting to retirement after his wife’s death; Shawn, getting to know his biological father, who’s in a nursing home; Nevaeh, now a single mother with big plans.
There’s a sense in which this structure makes the whole book feel like an extended epilogue—especially since it’s fairly short; even the 240-page count is a bit inflated, as a couple of chapters are formatted as prose poetry with a ton of white space. But don’t let that epilogue feel lull you into a false sense of security, because it’s ultimately leading up to a new and horrible tragedy. There’s certainly hope, resilience and love here, but nothing is really over.
All that said, I did enjoy the broad range of characters, from different ages and generations, different walks of life, all written believably and with sympathy, even when they’re difficult. Vermette is clearly a writer who is fundamentally interested in people, and if the book feels sometimes pulled in different directions because she just wants to follow some new person home and meet their family and hear about their job and explore how they came to be who they are, I actually love that. These books have always been about a community and about how people negotiate the circumstances of their lives. So widening the circle makes sense. I didn’t love how outright preachy Vermette has gotten on social justice issues, which is a change from her earlier books, though these books are very much placed in the moment in which they’re written and her milieu has probably changed too.
Some commentary on specific characters and their endings below the spoiler cut:
At any rate, I had sufficient emotional investment in the characters that overall I did enjoy this. I think Vermette gets people, and writes well and with complexity about a marginalized community. But for new readers, don’t start here: begin with The Strangers or preferably The Break, which anyway are stronger and more cohesive.
Structuring a novel as a metaphorical restorative justice circle is a cool idea, though I was relieved that there isn’t a literal restorative justice circle, which is probably not a good idea for these people and this crime. At the same time, it has its pitfalls. Vermette does a good job of keeping tabs on the major characters through other people’s point-of-view sections, but limiting each character to a chapter does distance the reader a bit from the central players. And where The Strangers showed a strong ability to differentiate character voices even in the third person, the deluge here makes them all sound fairly similar.
Meanwhile, some of the new people don’t really have anything to do, and so their entire sections consist of talking to a main character (Waaban), or worse, talking about a main character to third parties (Izzy), or worse still, just thinking about a main character’s backstory (Larry). If this were a restorative justice circle, I can’t say I’d care to hear this much from people whose connection to the crime is being mildly inconvenienced by the struggles of someone more seriously affected, and with this being the only snippet we see, it can make the minor characters’ inner lives look overly focused on someone who isn’t actually that important to them. I found the format most successful in catching us up on recurring secondary characters, whose chapters are often quite poignant: Ben, adjusting to retirement after his wife’s death; Shawn, getting to know his biological father, who’s in a nursing home; Nevaeh, now a single mother with big plans.
There’s a sense in which this structure makes the whole book feel like an extended epilogue—especially since it’s fairly short; even the 240-page count is a bit inflated, as a couple of chapters are formatted as prose poetry with a ton of white space. But don’t let that epilogue feel lull you into a false sense of security, because it’s ultimately leading up to a new and horrible tragedy. There’s certainly hope, resilience and love here, but nothing is really over.
All that said, I did enjoy the broad range of characters, from different ages and generations, different walks of life, all written believably and with sympathy, even when they’re difficult. Vermette is clearly a writer who is fundamentally interested in people, and if the book feels sometimes pulled in different directions because she just wants to follow some new person home and meet their family and hear about their job and explore how they came to be who they are, I actually love that. These books have always been about a community and about how people negotiate the circumstances of their lives. So widening the circle makes sense. I didn’t love how outright preachy Vermette has gotten on social justice issues, which is a change from her earlier books, though these books are very much placed in the moment in which they’re written and her milieu has probably changed too.
Some commentary on specific characters and their endings below the spoiler cut:
At any rate, I had sufficient emotional investment in the characters that overall I did enjoy this. I think Vermette gets people, and writes well and with complexity about a marginalized community. But for new readers, don’t start here: begin with The Strangers or preferably The Break, which anyway are stronger and more cohesive.
September 21, 2023
I LOVED The Break and The Strangers so much, but didn’t feel as strongly about this final book in the trilogy. It was moving and I really appreciated the stories of everyone affected from the previous two books. But it felt incomplete somehow. Not that I expected everything to wrap up nicely - it’s not that kind of story. It exemplifies inter-generational trauma and is so powerfully written. I do plan on reading them all again and may feel differently the next time I read them - likely all in succession to stay truly connected with the incredible characters. Highly recommend this trilogy. I think it should be required reading in schools.
October 11, 2023
Very disappointing. I wanted to love it far more than I did. Yet again, way too many characters to keep track of. My least favourite of this trilogy.
March 3, 2025
I like experimenting with new authors and Katherena Vermette proved to be a good choice. This is story filled with great action and social commentary about life as indigenous and the struggles that follow. Vermette provides the reader with a great story based in Winnipeg, my hometown, and delivers some great themes and ideas for all to enjoy. While not the most captivating story I have read this year, Vermettw does well and keeps things moving along as she presents her points about struggles and issues that emerge for multiple angles. Well worth my time and effort to say the least!
The idea of gathering people in a circle to talk is as effective as it is simple. Cedar Sage Stranger knew that some people would share about the hurt they felt, while others would speak of how happy they were, and others might even express being indifferent. Some would offer up reasons related to their day, while others would dig deeper and blame their upbringing or the poor treatment by those who caused trauma to their ancestors. In any case, the circle was meant to heal or at least expunge some of the inner poisons.
As Cedar prepares for her sister's release from prison, there are many mixed emotions. Phoenix may not have been the best sister, but they are blood and Cedar must be supportive. Having assaulted a young girl, Phoenix is in a precarious position and many express not being pleased with the prison release. The community is all over the map and emotions are running high, as many express their own concerns. All this forces Cedar to take a closer look at herself and those around her.
Phoenix's departure from custody is overshadowed by another issue. She is seen outside her son’s school. While this would appear to be highly motherly, the no contact order triggers a great deal of panic, which sends the police to track her down. However, Phoenix disappears before anyone can track her down, leaving some to hunt for her. While the police prove incompetent, Cedar and her mother, Elsie, make it their business to protect Phoenix and surround her with a circle of support. This may not be the best thing for outsiders, but Cedar and Elsie know what is best for Phoenix, which is the support of her community in this time of need. Katherena Vermette delivers a blunt tale of the truths that follow the indigenous community amongst those who may not understand cultural differences.
When I saw this book at the library, I wanted to take the time to read it and see how it might impact me. Katherena Vermette delivers a strong story that uses multiple themes to deliver a clear message. The narrative moves along well and keeps the reader fully engaged. As I mentioned before, the setting is Winnipeg, a city with which I am quite familiar. Vermette's depictions piqued my memory and proved helpful to push things along. Characters were well-crafted and served the purpose to add depth to the story. The plot worked well and offered both surprises and accentuated themes needed to better understand everything that was going on. I am curious to try another of Vermette's novels at some point in the future.
Kudos, Madam Vermette, for a raw and honest look through a perspective with which I am not overly familiar.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
The idea of gathering people in a circle to talk is as effective as it is simple. Cedar Sage Stranger knew that some people would share about the hurt they felt, while others would speak of how happy they were, and others might even express being indifferent. Some would offer up reasons related to their day, while others would dig deeper and blame their upbringing or the poor treatment by those who caused trauma to their ancestors. In any case, the circle was meant to heal or at least expunge some of the inner poisons.
As Cedar prepares for her sister's release from prison, there are many mixed emotions. Phoenix may not have been the best sister, but they are blood and Cedar must be supportive. Having assaulted a young girl, Phoenix is in a precarious position and many express not being pleased with the prison release. The community is all over the map and emotions are running high, as many express their own concerns. All this forces Cedar to take a closer look at herself and those around her.
Phoenix's departure from custody is overshadowed by another issue. She is seen outside her son’s school. While this would appear to be highly motherly, the no contact order triggers a great deal of panic, which sends the police to track her down. However, Phoenix disappears before anyone can track her down, leaving some to hunt for her. While the police prove incompetent, Cedar and her mother, Elsie, make it their business to protect Phoenix and surround her with a circle of support. This may not be the best thing for outsiders, but Cedar and Elsie know what is best for Phoenix, which is the support of her community in this time of need. Katherena Vermette delivers a blunt tale of the truths that follow the indigenous community amongst those who may not understand cultural differences.
When I saw this book at the library, I wanted to take the time to read it and see how it might impact me. Katherena Vermette delivers a strong story that uses multiple themes to deliver a clear message. The narrative moves along well and keeps the reader fully engaged. As I mentioned before, the setting is Winnipeg, a city with which I am quite familiar. Vermette's depictions piqued my memory and proved helpful to push things along. Characters were well-crafted and served the purpose to add depth to the story. The plot worked well and offered both surprises and accentuated themes needed to better understand everything that was going on. I am curious to try another of Vermette's novels at some point in the future.
Kudos, Madam Vermette, for a raw and honest look through a perspective with which I am not overly familiar.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
August 2, 2023
At times really beautiful and poignant, this was a powerful read. There is no denying that Vermette is an exceptional writer. In this book, she introduced us to so many worlds, so many people, so many stories, and the way they connected together was beautiful and vivid. I felt that the various characters didn't always seem to progress the story along in a linear narrative, which was a bit distracting, but overall I did like the way it showed the ways we interact with each other and the ways we shape each other's lives. Some of the POVs were more interesting or compelling than others, but overall this was an well designed web of connectivity. I was so frustrated and devastated by the ending though. It just made me so deeply upset. I do think you need to have read books 1 and 2 (& possibly recently) to get the full weight and magic of the book, and I unfortunately found myself a little confused at times.
September 5, 2023
4.5 stars
devastating, as per usual.
I found that some of the POVs introduced in this book were less compelling than others and sometimes distracted me from the overall narrative. But Katherena Vermette’s writing is a force and like her others, I will hold this story for a long time.
devastating, as per usual.
I found that some of the POVs introduced in this book were less compelling than others and sometimes distracted me from the overall narrative. But Katherena Vermette’s writing is a force and like her others, I will hold this story for a long time.
September 28, 2023
This was a very different book than the first two in the series. The tone was very modern, and there were some variations in format between chapters which was different.
Before I neared the end this was a 4 star read, but then two things happened which made me feel all the feelings, and I had to give credit for that. I finished this on my lunch at work and didn’t have the time to sit and bawl my eyes out at what was on the page. So utterly devastating. And so utterly frustrating as this is likely what a lot of Indigenous people have to deal with on a regular basis.
Before I neared the end this was a 4 star read, but then two things happened which made me feel all the feelings, and I had to give credit for that. I finished this on my lunch at work and didn’t have the time to sit and bawl my eyes out at what was on the page. So utterly devastating. And so utterly frustrating as this is likely what a lot of Indigenous people have to deal with on a regular basis.
January 6, 2024
Probably my favorite of the series. Nice to close the loop on the Stranger family. Again, just had a hard time with the writing style of this book. And I felt like the author was trying to be almost too inclusive, if that’s possible? Some of the stories/characters just felt unnecessary to the story.
September 5, 2024
This book ends the trilogy in the series. I enjoyed, The Break and The Strangers a bit more than this one but that doesn’t take away from the realities and rawness from this book. It is hard to read in places but it is 100% authentic.
“You get to hearing people’s life stories and you stop wondering why they do the things they do, more like you’re wondering how they did as good as they did.” When I read this quote I said “YES” out loud.
I worked in a 911 call centre for many years while I was taking post secondary and all I can say in that if wasn’t uncommon for a grandparent, parent and child to call for medical assistance within the same week. The generation curses and addictions are very evident. Sadly, what some kids witness and see, it was amazing to me how they functioned as adults. But did they?
The Circle is the perfect title. Everyone is in the family circle but the repercussions affect everyone in different ways.
I say read all three books if you have any interest or curiosity about the lives of our indigenous people.
Well done Katrina! 👏🏻 I await your next book.
“You get to hearing people’s life stories and you stop wondering why they do the things they do, more like you’re wondering how they did as good as they did.” When I read this quote I said “YES” out loud.
I worked in a 911 call centre for many years while I was taking post secondary and all I can say in that if wasn’t uncommon for a grandparent, parent and child to call for medical assistance within the same week. The generation curses and addictions are very evident. Sadly, what some kids witness and see, it was amazing to me how they functioned as adults. But did they?
The Circle is the perfect title. Everyone is in the family circle but the repercussions affect everyone in different ways.
I say read all three books if you have any interest or curiosity about the lives of our indigenous people.
Well done Katrina! 👏🏻 I await your next book.
August 16, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
When I saw this book for request on NetGalley, I think I audibly gasped. I read and loved "The Break" when I read it this year, and I was eager to read more by Katherena Vermette. I had to read "The Strangers" first, but as soon as I finished, I wanted to dive into this.
Vermette's stories are layered and told from multiple POVs. They are raw and emotional and the storyline is weaved together through all of these characters who are connected, both closely and distantly. There's a lot, but it is incredibly written and powerful
CW: violence, death, drug use/abuse, parental abandonment
When I saw this book for request on NetGalley, I think I audibly gasped. I read and loved "The Break" when I read it this year, and I was eager to read more by Katherena Vermette. I had to read "The Strangers" first, but as soon as I finished, I wanted to dive into this.
Vermette's stories are layered and told from multiple POVs. They are raw and emotional and the storyline is weaved together through all of these characters who are connected, both closely and distantly. There's a lot, but it is incredibly written and powerful
CW: violence, death, drug use/abuse, parental abandonment
November 20, 2023
Amazing indigenous author comes out with another gut wrenching book. The tales she weaves are all about family, love, belonging, heartbreak, support, a healing circle where every life interconnects with another. We are all one. This can be read alone but it is the third in a series. I hope you pick up this book and add it to your tbr pile, you will not regret it.
September 2, 2023
3.5 rounded up.
A heartfelt and heartbreaking conclusion to the Stranger family series that began with The break and The strangers, sees Phoenix released from prison only to disappear, causing a ripple effect among her family and the larger community.
Touching on trauma, healing, forgiveness and revenge, this story is told from multiple POVs, with a large cast of characters that gave me strong Frederik Backman vibes with its poignant commentary on modern, contemporary Indigenous life in Canada.
Good on audio narrated by Michaela Washburn. While this wasn't my favorite of the three books, it was still a moving, worthwhile read. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Librofm for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!
A heartfelt and heartbreaking conclusion to the Stranger family series that began with The break and The strangers, sees Phoenix released from prison only to disappear, causing a ripple effect among her family and the larger community.
Touching on trauma, healing, forgiveness and revenge, this story is told from multiple POVs, with a large cast of characters that gave me strong Frederik Backman vibes with its poignant commentary on modern, contemporary Indigenous life in Canada.
Good on audio narrated by Michaela Washburn. While this wasn't my favorite of the three books, it was still a moving, worthwhile read. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Librofm for an ALC in exchange for my honest review!
February 19, 2024
It would be hard to write a review that does this trilogy, and Katherena Vermette’s writing, justice. Each of her novels from The Break to The Strangers to The Circle builds on dynamic, complex characters with wondrous storytelling.
July 30, 2025
my heart hurt and broke and hoped the whole way through this series. Katherena is truly a visionary and the way she concluded with this book was masterful and meaningful, particularly in the way she structured the chapters and story as a circle (of community, justice, etc). it’s a heart wrenching, beautiful, and necessary reminder that we are all connected to one another in a cascading, multitude of ways.
February 13, 2024
3.5🌟 A definite departure from the Break and The Strangers. I still REALLY love her writing, but this just felt like it was thrown together. For this to be a final in a trilogy, it wasn't tied up well, in my opinion. This was also very hard core on pronouns and inclusion, which had nothing to do with either of the first two books and felt gratuitous. A quick read that left me feeling disappointed because I was so much looking forward to it.
November 6, 2023
4.5*. One of the things I like most about Vermette's novels is the sheer number of different Indigenous voices they include — and this is probably most apparent in The Circle, as each chapter is from the perspective of a different character, with no repeats. I would have liked to spend more time with certain characters, but I appreciated the diversity of points of view. And I think from the beginning of The Break, Vermette has emphasized how a single event ends up having an impact on so many people, rippling widely and for years.
November 13, 2023
Wow I loved this book, this series, so much. It is a stunning mosaic of how one action ripples and affects so many different people, so many different families, in so many different ways. There is so much content but it flows together so beautifully. “Everyone together makes this beautiful Circle.” Each person is valuable.
September 23, 2023
She did it again. Complex, multi-faceted characters, poetic text, love, heartache, all beautifully braided together. Maarsii Katherena!
October 3, 2023
Katherena Vermette's final installment in her Strangers trilogy does not disappoint. When THE CIRCLE opens, Phoenix Stranger is about to be released from prison after serving time for attacking and violently gang-raping another girl. The novel is basically a collection of vignettes focusing on many different minor characters from the first two books who have their own lives as well as opinions on Phoenix's crime. I had mixed feelings about this novel's structure. On one hand, I liked delving deeper into so many characters; on the other, I felt that the number of characters meant that this novel lacked both the intimacy and the urgency of the other two. Having said that, Katherena Vermette's talent as a writer and the unique rawness of her voice shine as brightly as ever. As with the other two books in this trilogy, this book could be read as a standalone series of vignettes, a sort of commentary on restorative justice, but I think readers' experience will be richer after having read the previous two. Of the three books in this trilogy, this one is the least graphic and violent. The rape is referred to, but almost in passing- there are very few if any graphic sexual details. If you want to get a good taste of Vermette as a writer but prefer to stay away from potentially triggering sexual violence, this would be a great place to start. Vermette is a beautiful and engaging talent in Canadian literature who is always well worth the read.
April 26, 2025
The conclusion to her North End trilogy, katherena vermette's THE CIRCLE weaves four (?) generations together in an ever increasing ring of grief, loss, love and wisdom.
Her characters feel so real - chipped around the edges, perfectly imperfect and struggling as people do with all manner of troubles, some mundane some specific to life as an Indigenous person.
I have never wanted a book to come with a suggested reading list as much as this (these) one(s)! But that's might work to do, not the authors.
(Feel free to recommend books you think I might like on the basis of liking vermette. Thanks.)
Her characters feel so real - chipped around the edges, perfectly imperfect and struggling as people do with all manner of troubles, some mundane some specific to life as an Indigenous person.
I have never wanted a book to come with a suggested reading list as much as this (these) one(s)! But that's might work to do, not the authors.
(Feel free to recommend books you think I might like on the basis of liking vermette. Thanks.)
September 6, 2025
Full stars for the last part of Vermette’s trilogy (set in Winnipeg). Beautiful, sad, but somewhat hopeful conclusion to the family saga of both the Strangers and the Traverses. I was thinking of how The Break was what happened, and The Strangers was an examination of why it happened, then The Circle is truly the story coming full circle, both in how the trauma is repeated by some, but also how the cycle is broken by others. Intimate character portrayals of people who are neither good or bad, but like everyone they can only love and trust to the extent that they’ve experienced both those things.
September 30, 2025
This series was exceptional. I initially resisted the format of this third and final piece. Each chapter is written from a different perspective, some familiar and some not; and we don't hear from any character more than once. I thought this might mean less depth than the first two books and I wanted to hear more from the familiar. But they are all linked and we never stop finding out more about each of the main two families. Vermette has a gift for writing complex characters, all flawed and all treated with great care and empathy. By the end of each short chapter I cared what would happen next in each life, familiar or not.
September 14, 2023
I didn't read The Stranger and The Break so may I missed something in the plot but I was fascinated by this coral novel, the aftermath of a culprit being release and the reaction of the people.
The author did an excellent job in describing the reactions, it waving the plot and differnt voices.
I will surely read The Stranger and The Break
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
The author did an excellent job in describing the reactions, it waving the plot and differnt voices.
I will surely read The Stranger and The Break
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
February 9, 2024
I love all three of the Stranger family books. The Circle was superb storytelling - with a big community of voices all telling their piece of the story. Somehow with the bleak topics - rape, gang violence, and the failure of so many (colonial) systems, there is a thread of hope and power.
As the book ends - “Even after all this bullshit, all that’s happening to all of them, it is still inside of them and coming out. Always coming out. Never stopping moving forward. Some call it strength or resilience or whatever. She calls it power. Beautiful. Fucking. Power.”
As the book ends - “Even after all this bullshit, all that’s happening to all of them, it is still inside of them and coming out. Always coming out. Never stopping moving forward. Some call it strength or resilience or whatever. She calls it power. Beautiful. Fucking. Power.”
January 27, 2024
I really love Katherena Vermette's writing. Her characters are so lived in; you get to know them in such tiny details that you feel like you've known them for years. I'm so invested in these people she wrote, I could read 10 books about them.
November 25, 2025
Este libro me parece bastante una poronga la verdad, siento que es algo que termina de cerrar nada realmente y me puso muy triste toda la impunidad de lo que pasa, nose, ningún mensaje real más que hacerte sentir que la vida es así.
ahora, recién me entero que es un tercer libro, que se supone que se puede leer solo, tal vez leyendo los otros dos pueda cambiar de opinión??? y nose la verdad pero pobre Jake y fuck Phoenix
ahora, recién me entero que es un tercer libro, que se supone que se puede leer solo, tal vez leyendo los otros dos pueda cambiar de opinión??? y nose la verdad pero pobre Jake y fuck Phoenix
September 23, 2023
3.5* I enjoyed reading more about these characters, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first two books.
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