Firekeeper's Daughter

by Angeline Boulley

Isabella Star Lablanc (Narrator)

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.

• ISBN10: 1250779529
• ISBN13: 9781250779526
• Publish Date: 16 March 2021 (first published 2 March 2021)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 22 June 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 14 hours and 15 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[lessthelonely]

4/5 stars.

tl;dr: While the book has been mismarketed as a thriller when it should've just been labelled a YA mystery drama, the plot and themes pack both a punch and have some staying power, even when brought down by some subplots that get solved off-page or a romance that has its ups and downs.

Let's talk about I decided to read this book because I've interacted with the translator for the Portuguese edition of it in Portugal. Notice I didn't say I'm friends with the translator, I merely said I've interacted with them.

Anyways, what did I think of Firekeeper's Daughter? I think it's been incredibly mismarketed as a thriller. I would love it if Thriller was only used for books that are fast paced. I'm not saying this book was slow, but it was slower than you'd expect a book with almost 500 pages to be. While the writing is sharp and definitely never boring, what's happening tends to be a little bit boring, especially right after the inciting incident - which, mind you, only happens at around page 100.

I must admit, having a flashforward was fun! I wish it had been a little bigger, maybe even with a few more jumps, which is a narrative structure I love and have written in. My point here is that for a standalone book, I believe the inciting incident could've come a little bit earlier. I'm not saying to start there, but a little bit more would've been a bit more. While this book is good at creating a realistic depiction of every day life, I feel this works against it at time because you spend a lot of time with setups which don't really get to a satisfying end point to the point they happen off-page.

Other thoughts: I found this crass for a YA. Look at me, all Virgin Mary, never read swearwords in his life! You usually don't get as much swearing in YA, and there were passages I found especially jarring because they were very much explicit. Not TOO explicit, but more than I expected from a YA book. I wouldn't be surprised if this was marketed as a YA because of that trend of women-written books just ending up as YA (think: The Poppy War, These Violent Delights, etc).

I would call this book a mystery with a heavy focus on romance. The plot itself seemed quite sidetracked for the main relationship, and while there were some choices I was like... DAMN. I am mainly kind of frustrated with the ending as, after spending so much time with the two characters, it was hard to see how they ended. At the same time, I would like to say there were some choices that didn't feel as organic as they should: the book starts with an incredibly forward approach to their relationship, cuts it off, only to set it up again by outside influence, which is easy to write (I've done it) but not so much to read.

Finally: the first time there was a red flag very explicitly being raised in-book, I figured out the ending. The reveal and aftermath were very much quite nicely written and as this is a standalone novel, this is when tension can REALLY be driven up to the maximum because you truly don't know who's going to live and who's going to die. It was great.

All and all, I believe this is a worthwhile read. My main points would be: a bit more lead-up into romance, a more present plot (you can introduce things that make plot slow down, but completely side-tracking it isn't fun), more contained subplots (if it's introduced, it should pack a punch... very rarely is the best choice to make something happen off-page).

[CrowNoYami]

Chills. This book gave me chills. It enthralled me at every turn and there are twists and turns! I love an author who keeps you guessing in the wrong direction until the very end. While the ending was bittersweet and left you guessing, it was perfect in its own way. 

[nannah]

(3.5)

Fire Keeper’s Daughter is a mystery thriller that, up until the last fourth, focuses much less on suspense and thrill, and much more on its romantic subplot and cultural aspects. Which, depending on your preferences, can be exactly what you want or something you’d rather pass on.

Content warnings:
- rape
- racism
- sexism
- drug abuse

Representation:
- most of the main and secondary characters are indigenous Americans (Ojibwe)

When Daunis Fontaine, a biracial, unenrolled tribal member witnesses the murder of her best friend, she’s cast into an investigation involving her Ojibwe reservation and goes undercover. But soon she starts falling for her fellow undercover agent--whose real name she doesn’t even know--and she begins uncovering truths about people she thought she knew. She went undercover to protect her community, but she begins to see that she and the FBI have different goals. If helping the FBI means tearing her community apart, will it be worth it?

It’s obvious Angeline Boulley loves her people and her culture. It’s expressed on every page and through nearly every one of Daunis’s actions. It’s gorgeous to read. I’m loving how non-English words aren’t italicized in newer published books, too. Boulley also doesn’t include a glossary, and there are many Anishinaabemowin words in the text, but they’re always written in a way that provides enough context clues to understand what they mean and what’s going on.

Though I thought it wasn’t fully developed until the second half, which might seem strange because Daunis witnesses her best friend’s murder in the first, I feel like the theme of grief is handled very well. No, Daunis doesn’t react the way one “expects” her to after her friend is murdered, yes, she seems to “move on” very quickly, romancing it up with the love interest and all that … but it’s all very similar to the way someone I love acted after losing her husband. Grief doesn’t make sense, and it can literally change personalities. Everyone reacts differently to losing someone. But Daunis having nightmares, being able to remember the murderer’s last words only long after the event, and having overpowering scent memories are all elements of PTSD that makes the book so much more real to me. Boulley took so much care in writing this.

Daunis’s relationships with some of the other characters are also one of the book’s other strongest parts, particularly Daunis’s relationship with her Aunt, Teddie; Seeney, one of the elders; and most surprisingly with the other undercover agent, Ron. People may argue with me on that last point, but it's such a refreshing contrast to the romance subplot and the way Daunis and Jamie, the love interest, interact.

But at just over 490 pages, I feel like some of almost everything could be cut. Sometimes the novel would suddenly go on a tangent describing a character or a character’s backstory that would never be mentioned again. In the first half, there was also a mind-boggling amount of repetition for no reason I could understand. I wish I had counted the number of times Daunis goes on runs, then visits her grandmother in the hospital, then showers, etc., and painstakingly describes each moment to the reader.

That, and Daunis’s aggravating relationship with her undercover-FBI love interest, Jamie, nearly made me put the book down. I still don’t understand the appeal of this relationship--and their constant bickering through the first half never struck me as romantic (and this dynamic never did as an actual teen, either. But this is very subjective). Unfortunately, the first half becomes largely devoted to the romance subplot between Daunis and Jamie, so it’s pretty difficult to get through if you absolutely hate it. At the end, though, I very much appreciate what Boulley does with their relationship. It's very rare for YA, and it kicked my rating of the book up a half star.

The other issue I have is with Jamie himself (okay, mostly with his scar--but god, do I find Jamie annoying! He’s the typical YA love interest … mysterious past, hot body wrapped up with that scar to make him stand out a little). But Daunis’s narration always draws attention to his scar. His smile tugs on the end of his scar, she wants to touch his scar, she’s always looking at/watching his scar, etc., until it borderlines fetishization. The worst is this, which happens twice: “Jamie raises the eyebrow on the perfect side of his face.” Just two lines, but they’re devastating.

Ah, almost forgot ... there's a rape scene in the novel that seems unnecessary (does nothing to move the plot/character growth forward)--except to point out the violence against indigenous women, and the lack of justice given for them. I understand wanting to make this point, but I'm not sure this is the best way to go about it.

So there were lots I loved and some I didn’t. Overall I feel that with another edit or two, this could have been a lot stronger. It’s not a bad read, and it might seem like what I didn’t like hardly merits the rating, but I don’t think I could read it again, given its length, the repetitive first half, and the page time spent on Daunis and Jamie’s relationship. I will definitely read what Angeline Boulley writes next, though!

[Quirky Cat]

Firekeeper's Daughter is a debut novel that very much doesn't feel like a debut novel. Written by Angeline Boulley, this is a powerful thriller that showcases the difference in treatment for tribal members and Native Americans.

Her whole life, Daunis Fontaine has never felt like she fit in. She's biracial, and while everyone knows who her father is, she is not an enrolled tribal member. Still, she has hopes and dreams despite feeling out of place.

All of which is put in danger when she realizes what is happening to her hometown. It's thanks to a murder that Daunis is even aware of the truth, and her closeness to the situation forces her to agree to go undercover. All in hopes of finding the truth.

"When someone dies, everything about them becomes past tense, except for the grief. Grief stays in the present. It's even worse when you're angry at the person. Not just for dying. But for how."

Is it possible for a novel to be both everything and nothing like what you expected? If so, that is Firekeeper's Daughter in a nutshell. Calling it a young adult thriller would not do justice for this read; I can tell you that much.

This novel pulls in many different elements, including a perspective that I know I personally have not read enough of. The combination of thriller, mystery, and Native American elements was absolutely fascinating and brought the tale to a whole new level.

As did Daunis' brilliant personality. She's fierce and bold (she'd have to be in order to be a top hockey athlete), but she's also amazingly compassionate and willing to do anything for those that she loves. Including put her life on the line, as the case may be.

"We love imperfect people. We can love them and not condone their actions and beliefs."

I'm not going to lie; there were parts of this novel that completely broke me. I couldn't believe how far this novel burrowed into my heart and soul. It's safe to say that I became very invested in what happened to Daunis and her small hometown.

I do want to mention that Firekeeper's Daughter deals with a lot of heavy and intense subjects. There's drug use, addiction, and overdoses, for one. There's also plenty of room for discussion surrounding prejudice and discrimination, and one especially shocking moment that will hit readers hard. At least, I know it hit very hard for this reader. It's perhaps not a moment that should have shocked me (if I'm brutally honest here), but it somehow did anyway.

I have to give Angeline Boulley so much credit for tackling such an expansive read. There's a lot to unpack from Firekeeper's Daughter, and I can only imagine how difficult it was to write at times. I cannot wait to see what comes next from this author.

Thanks to Henry, Holt & Co. and #BookishFirst for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 4.5 Stars

Holy freaking WOW! This was SO INTENSE & SO GOOD!

RTC, I seriously need some time to think. Just holy cow. All the freakin' cowssssss!

THIS WAS FANTASTIC! What a daring, brave, amazing NAIL BITER of a debut that really, truly, had me glued from page one! INCREDIBLEEEEE!