Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley: Book Tour

Thanks so much for coming to my tour stop for the Firekeeper’s Daughter book tour! Keep reading to see my review and links to where you can buy the book.

Title: Firekeeper’s Daughter
Author: Angeline Boulley
Publisher: Henry Holt
Pub Date: 03/16/2021
Genre: YA Thriller
Edition: Hardcover
Goodreads Link
Rating:

Summary

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.

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.

Review

I feel like I’m still getting my thoughts together because how do I even begin to talk about this phenomenal book that had me hooked from the beginning. Daunis, the Firekeeper’s daughter, is a firecracker. I was rooting for her the entire time and loved how important her community and traditions were to her. I especially appreciated getting to read so much about Native culture because it’s so beautiful.

The characters themselves were so well written as they all had discernible motivations, even if they didn’t always want them known. I understood Ron, but I still wanted to fight him. Granny June was absolutely hilarious, and Auntie is the kind of fierce, loving person you want in your corner. A lot of the boys and men didn’t deserve rights in this book though. Jamie is okay in my book. He just needed to do a little soul searching, but he wasn’t actively harmful like some people ?

I love how I guessed early on who was involved but Boulley made me doubt my own assumptions and even when revealed I never could have seen it playing out like that.

The last chapter was so emotional and healing. It ended the book on the perfect note and left me stunned. 

I could do an even deeper dive into everything that worked for me in this book, but honestly you have to read it for yourself. Firekeeper’s Daughter is a book written for Native youth that we all thankfully get to enjoy. I hope Boulley plans on writing another book because I will eat up anything she blesses us with.

I’m even more excited that Firekeeper’s Daughter is getting a TV adaptation. I pictured this book so vividly while reading, so I cannot wait to see a larger audience exposed to this magnificent story.

*Thank you to the publisher for the finished copy. All opinions are my own*

Where to Buy

Bookshop | IndieBound | B&N | Book Depository | Amazon

Author

Angeline Boulley, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, is a storyteller who writes about her Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Angeline lives in southwest Michigan, but her home will always be on Sugar Island. Firekeeper’s Daughter is her debut novel.