Reviews with content warning for Rape - Warrior Girl Unearthed

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

93 reviews

emily_mh's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was… incredible. I don’t think I’m going to stop thinking about this read for a very long time, much like I’ve never stopped thinking about Boulley’s debut (and the companion to this novel), Firekeeper’s Daughter.

In her Author’s Note, Boulley states that: “Ultimately, Warrior Girl Unearthed is about the need to control Indigenous bodies - both in the past and today.” I genuinely cannot think of a better way to describe the story here. The narrative is based on both the fact that 108,000 ancestors remain stolen across the U.S. alone (and those are just the reported cases), and the fact that there is a crisis of MMIWG2S.

Through her summer internship, Perry learns about how museums and universities have been resisting the repatriation of Native American ancestors, as well as cultural items, despite legislation (NAGPRA) being made to enforce repatriation. Instead, these institutions find loopholes which they use to avoid this process, which the less-than-watertight NAGPRA allows for. Another massive issue with NAGPRA is that it cannot hold to account private U.S. “collectors”, or public and private “collectors” overseas! It really disgusted me how academics here (reflecting their real-world counterparts) treated the ancestors and the cultural items as monetary assets, as “things” that belonged to them and that they had a right to. It shone a light on the white supremacy inherent in academia, and in particular challenged my view on archaeology. A striking quote found in the book is “one person’s archaeologist is another person’s grave robber.” It made me question how old a grave needs to be before it turns from grave-robbing to academic study - or perhaps a more apt question is, who the grave belongs to? Is it ever okay to place academic study over respect for a human’s burial? Where is that line drawn and why? I’m coming at these questions from my POV as a Classics student; these questions obviously have clear answers when it comes to Native American ancestors.

The same racism, fetishisation, and control that informs the attitude of museums and universities towards repatriation is also behind the epidemic of MMIWG2S that the book includes. Here I learnt about VAWA (the Violence Against Women Act); I don’t know why I didn’t remember this from Firekeeper’s Daughter. It is another piece of legislation that is supposed to protect Native Americans, but its massive blindspot renders it ineffective. Essentially, non-Indigenous folk have a very low chance of prosecution over harming Indigenous people on tribal land due to how jurisdiction is set up by VAWA. This is just such a glaring oversight and enables non-Indigenous people to harm Native Americans without consequence - as is detailed in the story here.

Please don’t go into this expecting a fast-paced thriller. You will do yourself and this book a disservice. There are definitely mystery and thriller elements that propel the story forward, but the focus is on Perry as she learns about and experiences the issues her community is facing, figures out what she can do about it, and takes action. It is slow-paced, but this fits the story well as Boulley uses the space to realistically show an MC learning, growing, acting, and finding her purpose.

Perry’s character development is significant. She does not begin as directionless per se, but there is such a difference in her at the end of the book where she has found something that she is wrapped up in, that drives her, that gives her actions meaning. Perry was a great MC to follow in other ways too. I loved how headstrong and determined she was, how committed she was to her community and ancestors. I liked how she wasn’t perfect, instead a little messy, but her heart was always in the right place.

I cannot wait to be able to read a new Angeline Boulley, whenever that might be!

Content Warnings

jdieperink's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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michellewords's review

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emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

When I tell you I ran to find this book, I sprinted. How did I not know/hear about this book? The Firekeepers Daughter has been my favorite book since I picked it up. Of course I had to read Boulley's next book.
Warrior Girl Unearthed was my favorite kind of "sequel", where it's more a spin off from a secondary character- Perry Firekeeper-Birch. Perry is forced into this summer intern program after crashing her aunt's jeep. While interning she learns about a nearby college hoarding indigenous remains and absolutely charges into this new job in repatriating remains. When she finds some hidden remains that are supposed to be secret, Perry sets off on a quest/heist to get them back, but find herself in the middle of a serial killer's plot.
The characters in this book are absolutely a delight. Perry is so spicy and relatable. I loved seeing her grow and develop as a person. I enjoyed the way Boulley integrated such rounded characters and the way that their flaws progressed the story.
I don't know how she does it, but Boulley teaches me something new about indigenous culture and their struggles. The first book really highlighted the Missing Murdered Indigenous Women. This book highlighted the struggles of repatriating indigenous remains and funerary objects. It breaks my heart, Knowing how much they must fight for their living and dead ancestors.
Fantastic book and great for teen readers (a lot less adult content in this book than the last). Highly recommended for the heist and the education.

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rachelann88's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A bit of a slow start/rushed ending in my opinion but I liked the overall structure and really enjoyed reading another of Boulley's stories, this time with even more important information packed in!

Content Warnings

mnstucki's review

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adventurous funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Perry is a character much like Pip from the A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series in that her choices stress me out, but I also can't seem to look away.

It's been *just* long enough since I read Firekeeper's Daughter that I had a hard time placing some of the shared characters. The stories are connected rather than a true series, so it was fine that I couldn't remember anything, but I think it would have added to the experience to be able to make those connections.

Content Warnings