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A review by taelights
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I keep going back and forth between 3.5 and 4 stars but I think I'll settle on 4 to support the author.
This was a really solid YA thriller that I had a lot of fun listening to. The plot was intriguing and told in a four act structure that held my attention throughout the book.
This is definitely a book where you need to pay close attention to the warnings because the main character witnesses and experiences a lot of horrible things. Which is one of my two complaints about the book, I feel like there were a lot of traumatic things thrown into the book that aren't fully explored and dealt with? I would have liked to see Daunis deal with things more and how those events affected her and her motives more throughout the book.
My only other complaint is Daunis is definitely one of those "not like other girls" main characters which I always find annoying when writers make their female protagonists like that and kind of internally misogynist because of that type of attitude.
Also, I didn't like how the phrase "the New Normal" was used throughout the book. It was clingy and annoying but that isn't really a full complaint.
But other than those two complaints I really loved the book and the characters for the most part! The Native American representation was very refreshing and I loved getting to learn about Daunis' culture throughout the book. Seeing her connection to her culture, community, and members of her tribe made me really love and care for her character despite her "not like other girls" vibes.
Overall it was a great thriller with some good twists and characters that I genuinely found myself caring about from very early in the book. It was a very interesting read that I would recommend to anyone who can handle the warnings.
This was a really solid YA thriller that I had a lot of fun listening to. The plot was intriguing and told in a four act structure that held my attention throughout the book.
This is definitely a book where you need to pay close attention to the warnings because the main character witnesses and experiences a lot of horrible things. Which is one of my two complaints about the book, I feel like there were a lot of traumatic things thrown into the book that aren't fully explored and dealt with? I would have liked to see Daunis deal with things more and how those events affected her and her motives more throughout the book.
My only other complaint is Daunis is definitely one of those "not like other girls" main characters which I always find annoying when writers make their female protagonists like that and kind of internally misogynist because of that type of attitude.
Also, I didn't like how the phrase "the New Normal" was used throughout the book. It was clingy and annoying but that isn't really a full complaint.
But other than those two complaints I really loved the book and the characters for the most part! The Native American representation was very refreshing and I loved getting to learn about Daunis' culture throughout the book. Seeing her connection to her culture, community, and members of her tribe made me really love and care for her character despite her "not like other girls" vibes.
Overall it was a great thriller with some good twists and characters that I genuinely found myself caring about from very early in the book. It was a very interesting read that I would recommend to anyone who can handle the warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Car accident
Minor: Homophobia
Bury your gays, relationship with a power imbalance, death of family members