Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

102 reviews

shlymiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical content, Violence, Gun violence, Dementia, Chronic illness, Grief, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Infidelity, and Police brutality

taroroot's review

adventurous mysterious medium-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

4.0

one star off for the love interest being in the FBI

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Drug use, Confinement, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Murder, Grief, and Racial slurs

Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Blood

lawbooks600's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Representation: Biracial (half white and half Native American,) Native American and Black side characters
Score: Eight out of ten.

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angelline Boulley circled my recommendations for months till now, and I thought no library would ever get it until a library got it. The book sat there on a display shelf till I picked it up, glanced at the blurb and headed in with high expectations, and when I closed the final page, it was thrilling. Where's Warrior Girl Unearthed?

It starts with Daunis living like she's split between her home and the Ojibwe reservation, where nothing happens in the opening pages save for her recounting her life in 2004, but everything changes after those pages when her best friend dies from a murder. Daunis joins an FBI investigation, but she starts hers as more deaths happen, and that is where the story shines in many ways. The pacing is mostly engaging and suspenseful as I see Daunis trying to discover who is the murderer, unintentionally stumbling upon another mystery on who is smuggling drugs in the Ojibwe community. Still, Boulley could've trimmed filler pages, of which there are around 100, to tighten her creation. There are not one, but two plots, adding to my enjoyment without being overwhelming or disjointed, but the narrative falters with its characters with their lack of relatability and the sheer number of them. Boulley could've removed them. The writing style is mostly okay but sometimes there are information dumps (which I found detracted from the central plot) and Boulley could've held back and instead improved the flow. I liked learning about Native American (is that the right term?) culture and medicines (no appropriation here,) a far cry from Indigenous Australian ones and the climax and conclusion ties everything on a high note.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcohol, Car accident, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Pregnancy, Drug abuse, Death, Suicide, Grief, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Drug use, Blood, Sexism, and Addiction

Full trigger warnings: Death and murder of a friend, another person by suicide from a gun shot in the past and a grandmother, blood, grief and loss depiction, car crash, gun and axe violence, physical assault and injury, fire, racist and sexist slurs, racism, sexism, cheating, pregnancy, alcohol and drug use, abuse and addiction, hospitalisation

madeline_schmidt20's review

emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Rape, Addiction, Car accident, Racism, and Grief

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Cursing, and Infidelity

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I love when I read a book that is unlike any book I’ve ever read before. This book opened up new worlds because I’ve not really read any contemporary books with Native people as the main characters. Learning about Native culture and customs through this novel was a breathtaking experience. The plot is believable, the characters choose paths that are unexpected, and the ending is sad but gives you a sense of finality as well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Car accident, Child death, Dementia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Medical content, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexual violence, and Torture

journalsmarts's review

dark emotional 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

I loved this book. Daunis was such a lively character, and I was really interested in her investigation. Boulley expertly balanced the fictional story with the very real statistics and experiences of Native American women. 

I think the book starts off a little bit slow, but it picks up and just snowballs extremely fast. With that said, I think all the "slowness" is necessary, as there's a lot of plot threads to set up and I think they were all well-tied in the end.

Edit: I forgot to add this in the original, but check the content warnings. There's some heavy stuff in here, and I really wish I had known about some of it beforehand. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Drug abuse, Suicide, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, and Sexual assault

potaylachips's review against another edition

adventurous informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

I really enjoyed learning about a different culture with this book. The characters and community were so fleshed out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Drug use, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, and Grief

Moderate: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Car accident, Classism, Genocide, Infidelity, and Racial slurs

Minor: Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Vomit

alexbrandis's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Infidelity, Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Car accident, Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Death

awkwardash's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I have not read a book where it has made me feel so much in a while, well for YA books. 

This book has everything that I could have ever wanted in it. From the beginning to the end. Even the pacing of the end to me felt right. I usually find that some YA books when they end have a rushed ending & it’s not a satisfying ending, but this book didn’t have that. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery, tiny bit of thriller, some romance, and history. I will say though, please do read the content warnings of this book as it does have some heavy topics that are talked about!!

I stepped into this book blind, and all I knew about it was a local librarian recommended it to me. I can 100% understand the high ratings of this book, it definitely deserves it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Addiction, Suicide, Rape, Drug abuse, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, and Infidelity

michelle_my_belle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I listened to the audio and the narration was excellent. Angeline Boulley does a great job of balancing the informational text about Ojibwe culture and the story and weaving its importance into who the characters are. It felt equal parts new adult, coming of age, family drama, mystery/thriller, and social commentary. I was engaged throughout the whole book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicide, Colonisation, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, Drug abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racism