This was another fascinating and well woven mystery from Angeline Boulley, but what I appreciated the most was the day to day lives of Perry, Eric, Pauline and the other Misfit Toys. The way in which Boulley shows the lives of the Native community on Sugar Island (especially for someone such as myself - a white, middle class woman from the UK) paints such a vivid picture. I thought the examination of NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) and the way in which the good intentions of the Act have been subverted over time was incredibly eye opening, as was the discussion around the many indigenous women who go missing every year. Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I adored The Fire Keepers Daughter and so jumped at the chance to read/listen to this book. It did not disappoint. I loved it just as much. Excellent themes, characters, and style. Narration was fabulous, easy to listen to and stay focused on the story!

Easily one of my favourite books so far this year. The perfect combination of an emotional coming of age story and a heist to try to reclaim stolen history. Perry Firekeeper-birch is an intelligent and tenacious main character always wanting to do the right thing. Throughout the book she develops her own morals and discovers how she can do what is best for her ancestors but also for herself. The way the Angeline Boulley covers sensitive and painful topics is beautiful to read and incredibly impactful, utilising quotes from books about repatriation to really drive home the importance of their message. I think the way the author highlights systematic issues faced by indigenous communities is incredibly well done managing to be informative without feeling at all forced as we are learning alone side our main character.

Life on Sugar Island is always brewing on low heat. Our protagonist 'a laidback twin' wanted to enjoy the summers, but had to stick with internships to repay her aunt. There, she is introduced to the complexity of retrieving the remains of their ancestors from the claws of the museum archives. The indigenous people on this island have always felt a little unsafe and valued more as dead in jars than when they are alive. But, with a rising number of disappearances, something needs to be done and our protagonist has already forged a plan.

The way people treat indigenous people across the world is portrayed so well in this book that those specific areas almost felt like they were pulled out of real-life stories. There is a different language that is used time and again in the story which was an interesting touch. Overall, the plot was touching, though the characters were less impressionable.

I read this book in a combination of audiobook + ebook, and every time the male narrator pronounced Indiyaan instead of Indian- I felt the urge to correct him. That being said I switched 100% to ebook after 40% of the book. And that did improve my reading experience. I feel like the audiobook was a 3 ⭐️ while the ebook was 4 ⭐️. So I have averaged out my final call.

Thank you @netgalley @wfhowes @macmillankidsuk and @angelineboulley for the Digital ARC.

Genre: #ya #contemporary #mystery
Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

I loved Firekeepers Daughter and was so happy when a follow up in the same World was announced.

We follow Perry this time, when a wee accident in her car ropes into into a job to pay back the damage. Perry is struck by the way her ancestral items are being treated and wants to help out with this.

She has to take matters into her own hands to stop this injustice and fight for what she knows is right.

This didn't hit me as hard as Firekeepers Daughter but it was an amazing read nonetheless. It was nice to catch up with Daunis again and she where she ended up.

I read via audio and this this made me enjoy it more as I could listen to the language and names they way they should be said.

Fun read with a lot of serious topic as well, recommended

This is a must listen if you like well crafted fiction that makes you cry with happiness and sadness. The narrator added feeling to the author’s words superbly bringing an added depth to my enjoyment of the story. Angeline Boulley has again created fiction with so many layers, beautifully intertwined. Thank you to W F Howes and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Whilst this was not as good as AB's debut, I found it interesting and invested throughout. It's clear the author deeply cares about her culture and people and you can feel the passion through the words.