Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

87 reviews

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.0

Going into this book, I had no idea this was a thriller, so that was definitely a surprise. But despite my aversion to mysteries, this book sucked me in.
Each chapter left me hungrily wanting more and there were deep scenes that evoked strong emotions from me. The representation of grief I thought was done really well as well as the PTSD the character was experiencing; though it wasn’t named that, the symptoms were visceral and evocative, and it felt believable, not a laundry list from WebMD. I’m not indigenous, so I can’t speak to the representation of a native tribe, though I think I learned more about tribe systems and laws. And with the ending, that wasn’t quite happy or sad, we got just a taste of the injustices indigenous tribal members face to this day.
Though I felt empathy for the main character, there were times I didn’t like her. I felt like she slipped into the “not like other girls” category like a lot of YA protagonists have a tendency to do. She acted like she wanted to speak up for women, but she called other girls dating her brother’s friends “angler fish” and judged them way too harshly. 
I also think the pacing was slightly off. The first two thirds of the book was slow to medium paced, but still enjoyable. In the last third, lots of action came seemingly out of nowhere and it felt like we were racing to keep up until the end. If the pacing could’ve been evened out a little more, I think it would’ve made for an even more enjoyable read.

However, I did love this, and I do recommend it! It kept me on my toes and taught me a few lessons, while being mostly believable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

taroroot's review against another edition

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: Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Kidnapping

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

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

tatih's review

challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief

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

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

teajunki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

summerlyn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

I loved every minute of this book! The investigation was interesting and I loved learning more about another culture. The author highlighted many issues with how the Ojibwe community are treated, especially by the law enforcement/government. Daunis was such a great lead with so many layers. How she worked through problems and situations was so fun to read.The ending was so sad but also empowering for Daunis and extremely realistic. I cannot wait to read the second book in this series!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Medical content

mktraxel's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

CAWPILE 9.4

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

michelle_my_belle's review

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

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

Minor: Racism

squinch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ali___cat's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault