I enjoyed this one, but not as much as I was expecting to from the glowing reviews. The characters and perspective were interesting.

This was such a fascinating, unique read.

Daunis Fontaine is drifting between two worlds - one with her wealthy white mother and the one she feels drawn to as an Ojibwe woman but has never been able to join. However when family tragedy weaves into a related community murder, Daunis is thrust into a world she's always felt like an outsider in and must decide where her true priorities lie. This was such a interesting read, told with such passion and knowledge in tradition culture that I've never read about before. Angeline Boulley manages to present Ojibwe culture with an obvious knowledge that is deeply rooted in the story, integral to the character and plot. The handling of some very sensitive topics was also well done, and presented in such a way that it never felt gratuitous but rather a fact of life, an inevitable ending.

The plot, although slow to start, soon becomes embroiled in multiple twists and turns that kept me gripped until the end. Amazing achievement for a debut.

Firekeeper's Daughter has been a book of much hype over the couple of years and made me really eager to read it. I had to admit that I didn't really know that much about when I started to read it so became quite bored as I started the book, not knowing where it was going to go. Once I got going, however, I ended up being really hooked. I became immersed in the world and the characters and the world in question. It was a thrilling ride to the end.

I absolutely loved this novel. Daunis was a great protagonist, trying to find her way and honour her heritage, protect her family and solve a mystery.

There was a lot of darkness in the story. There was no shying away from the brutality of the world we live in. A lot of it was upsetting.

I would actually love to read more set in this world although the ending was still satisfying. Daunis's culture had a direct impact on how she was able to solve the crime which I really loved.

I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author.

Firekeeper's Daughter is a well-crafted YA novel following a Native American teen straddling two worlds while trying to help save her community. It's a wonderful balance of genres including thriller, romance, coming-of-age, contemporary fiction, and everything in between. If you're looking for an original story that will keep your interest, this is the one for you. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Firekeeper's Daughter today.

This was a story that packed a punch and had a big impact. I thought that the author did a fantastic job having difficult conversations about the treatment of native women and the awful impact meth has had on tribal communities. I also thought that the writing style was really accessible and that Daunis was a wonderful protagonist - strong, independent, intelligent and kind. My only criticism is that some of the mystery elements of the plot were a little bit predictable, but overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Great YA novel with an important message. I’d been looking for some Native American stories to interest my teens and I will have to get this for school.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

This is a book I don't usually read, Teens & YA but I was drawn to the cover! Yes, I know "Don't judge a book by its cover!" But something about it was saying read me! Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley and Narrated by Isabella Star LaBlanc..
I enjoyed it and so glad I had a chance to get the audiobook and book to read. It covers sexual assault, drug use suicide, death of a loved one, addiction, racism., and "fatphobia" - which this part of the book I hated! However, this book was hard to get into but stay with it and it's a good read.

Big thank you to W.F. Howes Ltd for the audiobook and Oneworld Publications for the complimentary copy of this book, All opinions are my own.

"We don't forget our lost ones."

This was so much at once: a thriller/mystery, contemporary fiction (or would this be considered historical, since it's set during the early 00s? I feel old!), a romance... And it did all of it so incredibly well. I'm honestly in awe of how good this was, how it encapsulated so much in such an in depth and nuanced way without it ever feeling like too much. If I had to tell you to read one book this year, I would tell you to read this one!

Firekeeper’s Daughter follows Daunis, a biracial teenager and unregistered member of a Native American tribe as she deals with grief, discrimination and a complex situation she’s thrust into.

I found the book had something for everyone, balancing elements of a crime novel with heartfelt reflections on family and place. Boulley weaves her heritage throughout, sharing some of the joys and difficulties of life as a Native American woman in a divided and prejudiced world.

Though this book is classified as YA I would also highly recommend it to older readers.

This book really surprised me. Partially it was because I didn’t remind
myself of the blurb before diving in, partially because it had a small focus on hockey which coincided with my re-subscription to NHL.com, partially because the plot just did not let up in terms of pace.

Our main character is a teenage girl straddling two worlds that don’t seem to want to accept her. She is sharp and vibrant in every page of the book and it felt like she was the force driving the plot along rather than the plot happening to her. She takes charge of her story as soon as events start picking up speed. One thing I didn’t love about her character is how much it is emphasised by everyone around her that she’s so good at every skill she comes across. It ended up feeling a little flat, but that’s my only drawback.

Everything else about this book was great to read. Fast plot, complicated storylines that kept me guessing, I didn’t feel like the answer to the mystery was obvious at any point. I really recommend this book to anyone interested by the blurb. It only gets better from there.

A true genre-bender with romantic and coming-of-age undertones stitched on the cultural canopy of a mystery slash thriller.

Daunis, an eighteen-year-old biracial, has never felt like she completely belongs in either of her parents' world: her white mother's privileged, highly influential family or her Anishinaabe father's Ojibwe Tribe that she remains a non-enrolled member of. Her plan to pursue medicine and play hockey is the slightest bit of occurrence she seems to have a control over, because losing her uncle to a drug compulsion and seeing her grandmother fight the severe after-stroke complications are tragic incidences affecting her life non permissibly. But when she witnesses a traumatic murder oblique suicide, the tragedy multiplies. Being thrown into an investigation and subsequently becoming a confidential informant for the FBI ignites Daunis' newfound aim of focusing on the rising affliction of meth in the community.

The unapologetic immersion of the narration into the Indigenous community is easily the strongest aspect; from the truest, painful recounting of the historical atrocities to the tradition and rituals that make up the cultural essence of their days. Even the focus on modern politics and effects of contemporary policies further paint the realistic struggles of the community. The response and reactions received by Daunis from her family —the one that always considered this heritage of hers to be a flaw— throughout this tale is an authentic recount of how blatant racism influences the way Indigenous people are perceived, and the burden of sadness one feels when such recoil comes from family.

Having said that, the romance with an undercover cop didn't develop with enough feelings for me to strongly support it and the lack of characterisation with respect to the side cast slightly disappointed me. Regardless, the mysterious setting was created well with the gloomy atmosphere and a heavy air, and the puzzling clues that were to be put together successfully build an intrigue. Despite being able to predict the end, the execution of it all deserve an applause. Overall, the manner in which Firekeeper's Daughter highlights the strength and cogency of an independent young woman through a story of loss, pain, and doubt, is truly commendable, especially with the Native American voice it brings to the centre stage.

I thought this was a very impressive debut novel. Richly layered and complex, I found the plot well constructed and gripping. You are initially immersed in the painful history of the native American tribes, the culture, it's structures, politics, rituals, and how everything works within community and families. From there you follow Daunis as she goes undercover to help combat the growing meth problem within her community. Daunis is a great character, courageous and intelligent, I found I really became invested in her story.
There are some serious, potentially triggering issues here (abuse, sexual assault, addiction...), but the author handles them sensitively and with care. There is so much here, I couldn't do it justice, but this is definitely an author to watch.

The first part of the story takes us into the lives of the main character, Daunis, her relationship with her half brother, Levi and her indigenous family. The story also focuses on the increasing rate of lives lost to meths and the number of lost boys as seen with Travis, Lily’s ex boyfriend. A tragic incidence happens when Lily, Daunis’s BFF gets killed by her ex boyfriend and that forces Daunis to take part in a confidential investigation as undercover to look into the production and distribution of meth and how it’s destroying the future of the community.

Listen, this book is heavy! Very informative and insightful yet has a complex writing. I learnt a lot about the Native American culture, their language, how plants were used for medicinal purposes and their way of life. It also explained some indigenous words that I will never know how it is mentioned or know their pronunciation. I admired Daunis so much as she was tough, wise, intelligent and brave. I know this is a YA book but hey! It didn’t sound like it because so much was going on in there.

This debut novel was strong and mind-blowing. Angelline’s exploration of the themes were on point. The book has some suspense where you would want to keep scrolling to know what really happens. I’m looking forward to read more of her books in the future and I highly recommend this book.

Themes explored: murder, drug abuse, meth addiction, rape, suicide.

I don’t read thrillers, I don’t read crime books or mystery books. If I’m ever asked which genre I avoid, it’s those.
Has this book converted me? No, I don’t think it has. Purely because I loved this so much I’m not convinced anything else could ever match up to it. Do you ever read a book and immediately after finishing think “that may just be one of my favourite books of all time”? Well, this may just be one of my favourite books of all time.
This book has left me speechless, it’s left me in awe of Indigenous peoples and Native American culture. It’s left me with an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness that you can only ever get in that moment you finish a phenomenal book.
Daunis is everything I strive to be in life. She’s strong, honest, true to herself, she’s in tune with her body, her culture, her beliefs in such a harmonic and beautiful way. She is pure goodness.
The Ojibwe culture is equally beautiful. I knew little about it, so to read an own voices Ojibwe book was such an amazing experience.
I’d highly recommend the audiobook, Isabella Star Lablanc is brilliant. Whilst I don’t think reading the book physically would lessen the impact of the book in any form, hearing exactly how to pronounce everything added to the power of the Native American culture seeping through the book.
If I could give this more than five stars I would. If I could urge you to read one book this year, it’d be this one.

I didn't know the first thing about Native Americans - and at least now I know what I've been missing. I have been missing Daunis! A brave, strong young woman willing to perpetuate her culture and protect her community whatever it takes.

Like Daunis herself, her story is not perfect. It feels sometimes soppy in her relationship with her boyfriend, and over the top regarding her pride in her tribe. But it's always enthralling nevertheless, and it's exactly what we need to offset centuries of abuse and oppression - still going on today.

You can read this book as a crime YA novel with an FBI investigation. Or you can read it as a testimony of current living conditions for thousands of Native Americans. Either way, it's a win.

Trigger Warnings: Alcoholism, Colorism, Death, Drug overdose (mentioned), Drug use (meth), Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence

I had received an arc for this from Netgalley.

I had already seen this book around on a few booktubers most anticipated releases lists when I came across it on Netgalley. The premise sounded intriguing and the cover looked absolutely stunning. The second thing that really made me want to pick this up, was the fact that it is written by an indigenous author and I wanted to read more books by indigenous authors.

I haven't really heard a lot of hype around this book from Booktube since it came out. However this book, it kinda broke me. I don't know if this was because I had a few loved ones pass this year, which was also one of the reasons why it took me quite long to finish this book, but this was one of the most emotional reads I've had since I started reading again.

This book was also quite intense since it focuses on a lot of real life struggles and themes, that I also have and still sometimes struggle with. However I felt that in a lot of things this book touches on it was really spot on in the way it was written about. Not at all just meant for spectacle or written without care or respect for survivors. I also really liked the way adoption was represented in this book. I haven't really seen/read a lot of books that feature a character that is adopted were I felt like it was somewhat similar to my experience. I also am an recovering addict and I felt it was depicted in a fair way. As an survivor of sexual assault the scene, which merely lasted a page or so, was very realistic. I also liked the way that all of these things do impact the story and come back up and eventually aren't just resolved fully, which sometimes happens.

I went into this book quite blindly, because I didn't want to be spoiled for any twists and turns. And even though I did guess a few of them, the way Boulley structured this story made every stake and twist just feel very heavy. A lot of important characters and their relationships to Daunis, the main character, were introduced in the first few chapters, which was probably also why it took a bit before the inciting incident happened. However it was definitely important for the way the whole story played out and I see that now.

I was kind of scared that because the plot centred around the FBI investigation that it would make me feel a little bit lost, since I don't know a lot about that, however it wasn't that much about the investigation as it was about the tribe community and I really liked that. Most things were also explained or didn't really need an explanation.

But okay, the end really threw me for a loop since I kind of had slowly started to put all the pieces together. However the way that Boulley set up the story we don't know much more than Daunis, like I could figure certain things out, but not the end. Boulley really went there and didn't go back. I was constantly checking the page numbers to see if the ending was almost there, because I just couldn't figure out how she was going to end it. There were at least like 20 twists and it just kept going. Constantly Boulley gave us a little hope of turnaround and then it went bad again. I literally hated it and loved it at the same time.

I guess that also sums up my feelings about this book. But no, I genuinely loved this book and I really would like to see what Angeline Boulley writes next, so I will keep my eyes peeled for that.

📖Review: Firekeeper’s Daughter📖
By: Angeline Boulley
Genre: YA Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️•✨/ 5
Published: 1st of April 2021
Provided by: @netgalley and @oneworldpublications
[TW: death of a friend, drug addiction (meth), overdose, gun violence, kidnapping, death of a loved one, grief, rape, murder, abusive parents]
🟢 What I liked:
↪️ Daunis’s perspective: the mystery was done so well from the very beginning because of Daunis’s character
↪️ Powerful messages: there were in-depth discussions on a number of different issues, and I learnt so much about Native American culture through Daunis and the Elders
↪️ Mysterious storyline: the mystery within the book definitely kept me up late, unable to put the book down, so I was really engaged with the overall storyline

🔴 What I didn’t like:
↪️ Pacing: at the beginning of the book, the pacing was quite slow (however it quickly picks up), and the ending did feel slightly rushed, which left me slightly confused

🟡 I recommend for:
↪️ Everybody: especially fans of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange

Absolutely stunning debut! This book provides a valuable insight into Native American beliefs, culture and traditions and I learned a lot from reading. A really strong thriller with so many unique elements that had me hooked from the very first page. Some troublesome topics are discussed with dignity, sensitivity and skill and is a credit to the victims of drug abuse and sexual assault to highlight the realness behind these situations.

I’ll be recommending this to many!

10 Show more
Review I'm guilty of judging books by their covers, so when I first saw Firekeeper's Daughter, I thought it was a fantasy. Imagine my surprise when I found out it's actually a mystery / thriller - my favorite genre. I had to read it. Thanks to Netgalley I could snag an e-arc.

Cue last month, I picked it up because I had been seeing only great reviews about it. I was, of course, very intrigued to know what all the hype was about. So yeah, I picked it up and started reading it and it went on, and I have thoughts.

It'll be wrong to say that I didn't like the book. I was left with unsatisfactory feelings upon closing my Kindle app after reading it, and I thought. Did I enjoy? Maybe. Did I like the cultural rep in the book? Yep. But did I like the story? Maybe. Not a lot.

I know I'm not at a position to judge it from the representative aspect. I'm not the cultural audience demographic of this book but I think it was very well portrayed. The traditions and emotions of the culture as a whole could be felt through the pages. I liked that a lot.

But I'm a reader, and I've read a lot of thrillers, and I couldn't help but judge it from that aspect - of that of the story and plot. And when I did that, I didn't like it. It fell flat. There were plot holes I wanted answered, events I wanted to see be accounted for.

I'll tell you this - that from the first page, after reading the blurb and even before that 'big' event happened in the book, I called the truth / climax / twist. I called it from page one and I was right. This doesn't mean that the book was sloppy or anything or that the plot was weak, it's just that I've read too many similar plots to know what was going to happen. The stakes were very low, it was almost as if everything was handed out - too easy at times. I don't really enjoy stories where stakes are low.

At the same time, however, I have to admit the fact that FD touches up on important aspects of native cultural life. It was a good learning moment too - about native life and their ways. And the story felt almost real, like something that would totally happen in reality. I can see it playing out.

So there it is, out in the open. I wasn't entirely fascinated by Firekeeper's Daughter like most others were. The story failed to grasp my attention throughout as I felt skimming through a few parts in between. But then again, I enjoyed bits of it where we get to see family life and friendship, inner turmoil, grief and dealing with the aftermath. There was one incident which could be triggering for other readers, which was also not tackled well, in my opinion.

Overall, I can see why people are loving it so much. It has immense layers to the story, a strong writing and narration. It just wasn't the book for me to give it more stars.