Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Firekeepers datter

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Firekeepers datter by Angeline Boulley

105 reviews

kimveach's review against another edition

4.5

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

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I loved this book and found it fascinating. I grew up near a reservation but never knew or understood anything about life there. My only problem with the book was the fact that you don't know what year this is taking place until halfway through the book (2004). It would have helped explain what I thought were anachronisms (flip phones, cell phone plans that charged for texts) and it distracted me from the story.

Content Warnings

charity1313's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional 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: No

An #ownvoices masterpiece. I was extra curious about this one since we had summer plans to travel to Michigan (though not to Sault Ste. Marie). Boulley embued this novel with culture and history. She taught the readers about the indigenous tribes of the area in profound ways - spanning wide swaths of history in many ways as she addressed the ancestral, the government oppression of years' passed, and the oppression and issues that remain. She addressed the issues specific to women, to biracial children, to those living on and off reservations.

My only fault with this book is that it seemed like she fell in love with her main character and kept a lot of details that didn't serve the story or keep the reader moving forward. I got bogged down in all the character development that wasn't helping to keep pace with what is supposed to be a YA thriller/mystery. At times it made sense that the extra detail was giving us more insight into the culture but sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes it was just seemingly random back story.

I don't read a lot of this genre so I'm not sure how obvious/not obvious the foreshadowing is supposed to be but it felt obvious to me and I definitely wanted to shout at the protagonist that her preconceived ideas were blinding her! However, I don't think the mystery is the main reason to pick up this book. It has much more depth than just the mystery elements.

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iperez3006's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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: Complicated

This book was a surprising treasure. I picked it up because of its beautiful cover. I loved the creative plot, although it had a few of the well known tropes, it was integrated with such a unique perspective and situation and was so refreshing. Native American culture + FBI meth investigation + scientific terms and methods + hockey + fake boyfriend trope- what’s not to love??!! I am simply not over this book.

Content Warnings

egmamaril's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The beginning was slow, but by the end of Part 1 I was hooked. Just make sure to check CW because it gets very heavy.

Content Warnings

laurennbrackbill's review against another edition

4.75

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I really liked the ending for some reason. The author reinforces female empowerment!

Content Warnings

alatarmaia's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

The missing 0.5 stars is because it made me sad on a deep level. Some books really challenge you...you want there to be a happy ending where everything is fixed and justice is meted out, but sometimes in reality that's just not how it works. Some authors want to create those escapist happy endings, but sometimes, showing what reality is like is more important.

Firekeeper's Daughter, I can already tell, is a book that has had a profound impact on me. It reminds me of reading Children of Blood and Bone. The world comes alive within the author's words, happiness, complications, and tragedy alike. Both the good and the bad of the Anishinaabe world on Sugar Island have been brought to the page in their full, magical, unforgettable beauty.

Content Warnings