Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

71 reviews

siobhanward's review

emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I adore Boulley and her writing and will admit that at this point, I'm probably biased in my ratings. I will happily look past some of the shortcomings of this book in order to rave about it. The ending was rushed and the characters felt a lot younger than those in Firekeeper's Daughter , but an actual age gap, combined with a more modern time period in this book makes that seem reasonable.

I also have to admit that issues and conversations surrounding the repatriation of Indigenous cultural artifacts and remains from museum to collections to the communities where they belong has been something that's interested me for a while. With a background in museum studies and anthropology, it's been at the forefront of a lot of my education and to see a whole book about it was fascinating. I once again absolutely loved the characters and loved the return of some favourites from Firekeeper's Daughter . Perry and her gang of misfit toys were wonderful and I just wish this book had gone on forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Rape, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Genocide

docsusan's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Another winner from the author of Firekeeper’s Daughter. I could not put this down.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Kidnapping, and Racism

pferdina's review

adventurous challenging informative fast-paced

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

4.0

I liked this even more than Firekeeper’s Daughter, but it helped that I’d read that book before. The character of Perry is lovable. She’s young, impetuous, and cares deeply for what’s right.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Police brutality, Cultural appropriation, Murder, Blood, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Rape

theinkwyrm's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I generally don't enjoy most YA anymore, but this one is an exception. Warrior Girl Unearthed is exceptionally told and a compelling read. I hadn't ever thought about how it must feel for people who have cultural items and human remains in museums, so this was eye-opening and thought-provoking. I really enjoyed the overall plot of the story, even though the heist-y bits don't come in until over halfway through. The only thing I didn't enjoy about this book is the lack of translation for the Ojibewemowin that Boulley includes in the book, especially since you can't find the translations for some of the longer interactions on Google so the meaning is just kind of inferred based on context. However, I also realize that not including translations is her prerogative and not something owed to the reader, so while I did find it a little frustrating, I understand why she did it. Overall, highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Kidnapping

Minor: Murder, Racism, and Rape

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Confinement

Moderate: Self harm, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Drug use

Minor: Rape

emmehooks's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Pedophilia, Genocide, and Racism

Minor: Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Medical content

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, and Racism

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Vomit

rmperash's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Genocide, Hate crime, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Stalking, Racism, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Abandonment

pomoevareads's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

There is no sophomore slump here!

Fans of Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter will love her newest book, Warrior Girl Unearthed, which features the same characters. While it is not necessary to read Firekeeper’s Daughter first, I would encourage everyone to read it first as it introduces the characters and if you read Warrior Girl Unearthed first, parts of FD will be spoiled.

Warrior Girl Unearthed is narrated from the perspective of Perry, one of Daunis’s (FD) twin nieces/cousins. After crashing the Jeep her aunt had gifted to Perry and Pauline, Perry is told she will be interning at the museum to pay back the repair costs. At first Perry is not keen on working for the quirky Cooper Turtle but he quickly shows himself as a respectful mentor who teaches Perry about the repatriation, or lack thereof, of indigenous remains and artifacts. Along with a group of other interns who come together once a week to share their experiences, Perry becomes the de facto leader of the group who call themselves The Misfit Toys after the island of misfit toys in the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer story. Soon a heist plan is hatched to return remains and items associated with those remains back to the land. 

Boulley has written a great YA story here with several interesting characters and many opportunities for the reader to research the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). 

The author shares in her notes at the end of the book that a tweet someone made about recreating Lara Croft but with an indigenous story planted the seed for Boulley to begin thinking about how she could turn her latest ideas into the next book. 

I love that Warrior Girl Unearthed makes for both great story-telling and also an opportunity for learning and reconciliation and would love to see this book make its way into the hands of middle schoolers and beyond. It would also make a great pairing with educational projects. 

My copy included an additional chapter featuring Pauline’s point of view for a portion of the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Confinement and Death

amesnotamy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

5.0

I want to say I liked Firekeeper’s Daughter better and maybe I did but this book was absolutely amazing! I loved it from beginning to end no matter how frustrating some parts got

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Racism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Rape

Minor: Sexual assault, Police brutality, Child death, and Genocide