Reviews

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

deelightfull's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

treehugger513's review against another edition

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5.0

WOW! This book was EVERYTHING! It was nothing I expected and more! The setting right away got me. It took place in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan. It felt so wonderful reading about my home state. Especially an area that has unique cultural aspects. So fun to read about Yooperism. It had my heart from the very start. And then it delved into cultural teachings about the Ojibiwe. Boulley expertly weaved mystery, Ojibiwe culture, grief, drugs, coming of age, community and the power of women. Seriously. This boo had everything I couldn't love it more!

cassienow13's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

ccrose's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was phenomenally written. This book takes you on a journey of self growth and strength. It showed the way that drugs can harm the indigenous communities. It can affect families and friends, the people who you thought were good, those who are troubled. It can effect every level of the community. It showed that the government has a specific agenda when doing an investigation, and they don’t always have the indigenous communities best interests at heart. It opened my eyes in a lot of ways. I hope to hear more from this author.

thevegan6323's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

5.0

gemmalikestoread's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative sad 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? No

4.5

_wraith_'s review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

ashleysaysciao's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

ericawrites's review against another edition

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4.0

 This thriller follows Daunis, an 18-year-old preparing for her first year of college, as everything around her in her small hometown and nearby Ojibwe reservation changes. When we meet her, Daunis has recently lost her uncle (she believes to meth), and her grandmother has had a debilitating stroke. She changes her college plans to stay closer to her mother, grandmother, and best friend, Lily. Daunis is also trying to get her citizenship within the tribe (her Ojibwe father was not on her birth certificate), and she’s studying traditional Indigenous medicines and plants with a keen understanding of chemistry and medicine.

I learned a ton about Ojibwe culture, practices, and traditions, and I appreciated and loved many of those moments. But I did wonder if this book would read as an explainer to non-Ojibwe people to someone of that background or a related one. (As a trans person, I’ve certainly read books featuring trans people and community where they felt like they explained something to cis people over letting the scene be natural to the trans person.) This was also a YA book, so sometimes, explainers come with the target demographic.

In many ways, this book is overwritten and beautiful simultaneously. Around 100 pages could’ve been cut, and while I understand Boulley wanting to address the rampant SA of Indigenous women, the late in the story sexual assault of Daunis felt unnecessary to the plot.

Daunis sometimes felt “not like the other girls” in her attitude and interests. She’s into science and hockey and doesn’t care much about a party where she can wear a fancy dress and makeup. She also dislikes and slut shames the teenage girls who follow the high school boy's hockey team that Daunis played on. While Daunis has a strong connection to her aunt, she also sees her mother as too fragile to deal with her daughter’s problems, and (SPOILER) the death of Lily leaves out a connection with another girl. Instead, she’s mainly around Jamie, her male love interest, her brother, and the rest of the almost all-male hockey team.

The thriller certainly got the most interesting in the last 20% with dramatic actions and betrayals that I saw coming and did not. Daunis spends most of the book working with two FBI agents as they try to unravel who is dealing meth in the community and the surrounding area. Daunis’ connection to the people and the land gives her greater insights into the case, but they also shield her from the truth and some people’s motives and beliefs about her.

Firekeeper's Daughter had an immensely satisfying ending for all the threads Boulley built up over the story. 

thegoldenlady's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Such a beautiful book, wonderful story telling.