A review by thaliareads
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Overall I very much enjoyed the mystery at the core of the story. At least in audiobook form there was a few times I got confused as to what had been actually said/what was just in Daunis' head as fantasy. However, the audiobook was excellent for all more unique pronunciations both with being in the UP and with introducing what to most readers is an unfamiliar language. I will say the narrator did mess up the pronunciation of pastys (coming from someone who spent 4 years in the UP and who's best friend is a UP local) pronouncing them the way you would pasties - which are very different. 

For me this was a fun and worthwhile read and while I had inklings about who might be behind the mystery, there were too many moving parts for me to guess before the culprits were revealed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Infidelity

This book deals with a lot of heavy topics that I can't possibly put in context without spoiling the book since they are all interwoven. However, I'll do my best to provide some basics. First, this book is obviously about the mystery surrounding the increased appearance of meth in the MC's community. Therefore lots of specifics of drug use and production and the effect of drug use on the community are discussed. Second, any sexual content - including the sexual assault - are described in detail leading up to the incident and then fade to black. In consensual situations there will be kissing but that's where the description stops. Obviously, in the case of the assault there are more long lasting impacts on mental health and well being. There are multiple victims to the drug problem throughout the book - either directly or indirectly - that would classify as murder and leave the MC with a lot of grief to work through. The MC also gets into multiple situations where she ends up injured in different capacities - from bloody to internal - and it is typically described in detail due to the character's interest in healing, health, biology, and science in general. The MC also has an elderly relative that has been in a coma and continues to be throughout the book. She spends a lot of time visiting them and that means it's brought up frequently. Finally, there are characters in the book that culturally appropriate the MC, or others around her. Typically she will note this and point it out for the reader.