REVIEW:

Honestly, who could resist this cover? I find it so compelling that I simply had to read the story that inspired such beauty. Plus, Firekeeper’s Daughter is an #OwnVoices tale, written by an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians about her Ojibwe community, solidifying its place as one of my most anticipated books of 2021.

With the gorgeous cover and #OwnVoices lineage in the Pro column, the glaring Con for me was that it’s also a Young Adult novel. I find the YA genre less enjoyable with each passing year, but my hope was that the storyline - an 18-year-old girl works as a Confidential Informant for the FBI to expose her community’s meth dealers - would transcend the classification. Unfortunately, it didn’t.

There was much to love about Firekeeper’s Daughter, particularly the immersion in the Ojibwe’s community, culture, customs and language. But the writing often felt juvenile, as did many of the scenes. The plot was bursting at the seams with far too many characters and events, and no trigger warning was left behind: drug addiction, suicide, murder, assault, rape. (Well, I guess no animals were harmed, so that’s something.)

Any review less than 5 stars for this book is a minority opinion, so I’d encourage interested readers to look at all the raves before deciding to pick it up or cast it aside. (At almost 500 pages, you’ll want to know how you’ll be spending your time!) You can count Netflix and the Obamas as surefire fans, because a series is already in the works. I’m looking forward to that, as Firekeeper’s Daughter’s many storylines will likely make a stellar transition from page to screen.

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.

The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don’t add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicine. But the deceptions — and deaths — keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.

Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she'll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

Debut author Angeline Boulley crafts a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.