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A review by aforestofbooks
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.5
Reading the author's note at the end of this book made me realize how few Indigenous books I've read over the last few years. I'm so happy I finally decided to pick this one up at Gretal and Kait's recommendation. They were right. This was a memorable read.
I love Daunis so much as the main character. Her drive and determination to learn the truth, her quick-thinking, but especially the aspects of her Anishinaabeg teachings and spirituality in her day-to-day life. As a Muslim, my faith plays such a huge role in my daily actions, and as the reader, we get to see how important it is for Daunis too. One thing I love about books with Muslim characters is when the author incorporates Islam into the character's actions, thoughts, and words. I can only imagine how nice it is to see something like this for Indigenous peoples picking up this book.
The community aspect in Firekeeper's Daughter, especially in the last couple chapters almost made me cry. It was beautiful seeing everyone coming together to commemorate and remember and heal and mourn. I miss community so much lately, that seeing it on the page makes my heart hurt and makes me wish there was more of it in our world right now.
The romance in this book was cute and did not make me cringe lol. I will say that I was low-key suspicious the entire time because when cops are involved, I just have trust issues. I do love the not-so-subtle digs at cops and the American government. Like literally-
<blockquote>"Scariest words ever spoken: I'm from the federal government and I'm here to help."</blockquote>
Just replace federal government with US military and literally nothing has changed since the early 2000s
I do want to stab a lot of people in this book. And maybe defenestrate someone too. The ending was heartbreaking but unfortunately realistic. We all know now more than ever that justice for Indigenous peoples in the US/Canada and around the world will never happen at the hands of a white supremacist governing body. Not on its own anyway. We have to fight for it every step of the way, and do everything in our power to bring down fascism and racism and zionism, and even that might not be enough.
Like I've said with every book I've reviewed since early October, it's very hard to read a book and not make connections to our world right now. I hope this is a tipping point for Indigenous peoples all over the world.
4.5/5 stars
I love Daunis so much as the main character. Her drive and determination to learn the truth, her quick-thinking, but especially the aspects of her Anishinaabeg teachings and spirituality in her day-to-day life. As a Muslim, my faith plays such a huge role in my daily actions, and as the reader, we get to see how important it is for Daunis too. One thing I love about books with Muslim characters is when the author incorporates Islam into the character's actions, thoughts, and words. I can only imagine how nice it is to see something like this for Indigenous peoples picking up this book.
The community aspect in Firekeeper's Daughter, especially in the last couple chapters almost made me cry. It was beautiful seeing everyone coming together to commemorate and remember and heal and mourn. I miss community so much lately, that seeing it on the page makes my heart hurt and makes me wish there was more of it in our world right now.
The romance in this book was cute and did not make me cringe lol. I will say that I was low-key suspicious the entire time because when cops are involved, I just have trust issues. I do love the not-so-subtle digs at cops and the American government. Like literally-
<blockquote>"Scariest words ever spoken: I'm from the federal government and I'm here to help."</blockquote>
Just replace federal government with US military and literally nothing has changed since the early 2000s
I do want to stab a lot of people in this book. And maybe defenestrate someone too. The ending was heartbreaking but unfortunately realistic. We all know now more than ever that justice for Indigenous peoples in the US/Canada and around the world will never happen at the hands of a white supremacist governing body. Not on its own anyway. We have to fight for it every step of the way, and do everything in our power to bring down fascism and racism and zionism, and even that might not be enough.
Like I've said with every book I've reviewed since early October, it's very hard to read a book and not make connections to our world right now. I hope this is a tipping point for Indigenous peoples all over the world.
4.5/5 stars