Brandice's Reviews > The Sentence

An independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted by the ghost of its most annoying customer, Flora. Tookie, one of the bookstore employees, tries to determine why Flora is haunting. At the same time, Tookie must deal with ghosts of her own past and face all that’s going on in MN, with the pandemic and horrific murder of George Floyd. Why is Flora still there? Will the store stay afloat during the pandemic? Can the city survive and will people actually learn something, changing for the better?

The Sentence was an excellent story, taking place from November 2019 - November 2020. When I wasn’t listening to it, I found myself thinking of it, eager to get back to find out what would happen next. If the idea of a ghost story or reading about the pandemic feels meh, give it a shot anyway — I am not drawn to ghost stories and have not been interested in books about this pandemic, however, this book was both and neither. Yes, those elements are present but not overbearing. It felt realistic but was still very enjoyable, even with its heavier topics. There was also a decent amount of humor throughout, and the bonus of the bookstore setting. I liked Tookie as the main character and Dissatisfaction was one of my favorite side characters.

The Sentence was my first Louis Erdrich book and will not be my last. The audiobook narrated by Erdrich herself was great, my second audiobook of 2022 and my second 5 star read this year.