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A review by leer_amor
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
5.0
This book is a supernatural/paranormal mystery with a main character, Ellie, who can raise the ghosts of dead animals. After her cousins death, which was deemed an “accident“, Ellie is visited by his ghost in a dream where he tells her that he was actually m!rdered. She then sets out to try to, solve the mystery of his m!rder and prevent further deaths.
I absolutely loved the ancestral stories. They were woven into the plot so beautifully and you could really feel the familial bonds within the tellings of the stories. I loved how indigenous agency, history, and rights were seamlessly embedded in the magic system. Like yes, they can totally banish a vampire from a vast area of land because that was their land first before colonizers took it. They dont need to banish them from a house with a deed in their name. The whole freaking land belongs to them.
I appreciated the phonetic spelling of the name El-ot-so-ay, as well, because I was definitelt saying it wrong in my head.
The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are gorgeous, but I couldn’t always understand the relevance to the story that they had. I don’t know if they were intended to connect with each chapter, but I felt like they didnt. I appreciate them either way though.
I also loved how the main characters friendship with the main secondary character, Jay, was completely platonic, and there was no romantic tension or anything like that within their relationship. I would like to normalize completely platonic relationships without any romance. Because those relationships are just as important as romantic relationships. (As well as reallt nice, seamless asexual representation)
I also love the relationship between Ellie and her dog, Kirby. The relationships that the characters had with various animals and the strong bond that they had with them were really beautiful. I love a good story about a girl and her dog.
This book managed to stay fairly lighthearted while still dealing with deep topics. I’ve been reading more YA recently and I kind of started to fear that I had “outgrown“ the genre because I was not enjoying my recent YA reads. But this book reminded me what I love about the YA genre. With a gorgeous blend of culture, heart, mystery, suspense, and familial ties, Elatsoe is a must read.
I absolutely loved the ancestral stories. They were woven into the plot so beautifully and you could really feel the familial bonds within the tellings of the stories. I loved how indigenous agency, history, and rights were seamlessly embedded in the magic system. Like yes, they can totally banish a vampire from a vast area of land because that was their land first before colonizers took it. They dont need to banish them from a house with a deed in their name. The whole freaking land belongs to them.
I appreciated the phonetic spelling of the name El-ot-so-ay, as well, because I was definitelt saying it wrong in my head.
The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are gorgeous, but I couldn’t always understand the relevance to the story that they had. I don’t know if they were intended to connect with each chapter, but I felt like they didnt. I appreciate them either way though.
I also loved how the main characters friendship with the main secondary character, Jay, was completely platonic, and there was no romantic tension or anything like that within their relationship. I would like to normalize completely platonic relationships without any romance. Because those relationships are just as important as romantic relationships. (As well as reallt nice, seamless asexual representation)
I also love the relationship between Ellie and her dog, Kirby. The relationships that the characters had with various animals and the strong bond that they had with them were really beautiful. I love a good story about a girl and her dog.
This book managed to stay fairly lighthearted while still dealing with deep topics. I’ve been reading more YA recently and I kind of started to fear that I had “outgrown“ the genre because I was not enjoying my recent YA reads. But this book reminded me what I love about the YA genre. With a gorgeous blend of culture, heart, mystery, suspense, and familial ties, Elatsoe is a must read.