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pastelkerstin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Gore, Body horror, Genocide, Medical trauma, Murder, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Alcohol, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Racial slurs
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
Police corruptionmorganperks's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident, Torture, Gaslighting, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Child death
Moderate: Colonisation, Medical content, Addiction, Miscarriage, Animal death, Racism, Violence, Genocide, Medical trauma, Stalking, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Gore, and Body horror
Minor: Kidnapping, Confinement, Cancer, and Gun violence
solenekeleroux's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Animal death
katsbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
“Tradition accommodated the adaptable nature of humankind.”
“It's hard to know that you're flying too high until the feathers start dropping.”
"That's why some stories are particularly important. They're more than entertainment. They're knowledge."
I loved so many things about this book. First off, going in, I felt like the writing was a bit on the younger side of young adult. That didn't necessarily turn me off but middle grade and younger YA can be very hit or miss for me so I was cautiously optimistic. And this book did not disappoint. It handled a lot of heavier topics in a very age appropriate manner. The speculative elements were amazing. I want this novel turned into a movie just so I can have visual imagining of Kirby! He easily became one of my favorite characters. The murder mystery was really intriguing and kept me wanting more and more. I also loved how Ellie's asexuality was stated but not made into the defining feature of her personality. I think that's a great way to create a talking point with kids given the audience. The main character and her family belong to Lipan/Apache culture and I loved how integral their culture was to the story. There are definitely conversations about colonization and the value placed on BIPOC in white, American society. Overall, I would recommend this novel to just about anyone and I will definitely be picking up more from Little Badger!
Graphic: Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Racism, and Xenophobia
starrynight's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Car accident, Death, Grief, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Alcoholism
bsteve24's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Elatsoe, the title character, is Lipan Apache, and her culture is richly interwoven into the fabric of the story. She inherited the secret of raising the dead from her mother, just as it has been passed along the women of her family for generations stretching back to her Six Great Grandmother and beyond. This book is a celebration of family and community. It refreshingly depicts a family united in trust and purpose - when Elatsoe tells her parents about her vision regarding her cousin's death, they immediately believe her, and they tackle the mystery together.
This book is raw. It is honest. It grapples with the realities of oppression, microaggression, privilege, and grief. I can't wait to read the next novel Darcie Little Badger writes.
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Grief, Racism, and Xenophobia
caseythereader's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
📚 Plus, who wouldn't want to keep a ghost version of their favorite pet around?
📚 The central mystery of this book kept me turning pages as fast as I could.
📚 Ellie is lowkey asexual, in a way that's casually dropped into conversation and has no bearing on the story. Love.
📚 ELATSOE also uses the supernatural aspects of its world to talk about colonization and violence against generations of Native peoples. Baked into the story (and the stories of Ellie's Six-Great-Grandmother) are discussions of who has the right to exist and where, and who is allowed to steal what rightfully belongs to others - from land to lives.
📚 ELATSOE falls closer to middle grade than YA. That's not a knock on the book, just something to know going in.
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Xenophobia