Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

22 reviews

micaelamariem's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Going into this book, I had no idea this was a thriller, so that was definitely a surprise. But despite my aversion to mysteries, this book sucked me in.
Each chapter left me hungrily wanting more and there were deep scenes that evoked strong emotions from me. The representation of grief I thought was done really well as well as the PTSD the character was experiencing; though it wasn’t named that, the symptoms were visceral and evocative, and it felt believable, not a laundry list from WebMD. I’m not indigenous, so I can’t speak to the representation of a native tribe, though I think I learned more about tribe systems and laws. And with the ending, that wasn’t quite happy or sad, we got just a taste of the injustices indigenous tribal members face to this day.
Though I felt empathy for the main character, there were times I didn’t like her. I felt like she slipped into the “not like other girls” category like a lot of YA protagonists have a tendency to do. She acted like she wanted to speak up for women, but she called other girls dating her brother’s friends “angler fish” and judged them way too harshly. 
I also think the pacing was slightly off. The first two thirds of the book was slow to medium paced, but still enjoyable. In the last third, lots of action came seemingly out of nowhere and it felt like we were racing to keep up until the end. If the pacing could’ve been evened out a little more, I think it would’ve made for an even more enjoyable read.

However, I did love this, and I do recommend it! It kept me on my toes and taught me a few lessons, while being mostly believable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dtursi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Man, what a great read. The story was incredible, and I found myself thinking about it throughout the day. Also a nice introduction to indigenous culture of the Great Lakes region, with some thought provoking commentary on the history and remnants of racism and oppression of native peoples. It’s YA, but so sophisticated and well-done. Would love to read more by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Murder

tatih's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Grief

madlyreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

summerlyn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved every minute of this book! The investigation was interesting and I loved learning more about another culture. The author highlighted many issues with how the Ojibwe community are treated, especially by the law enforcement/government. Daunis was such a great lead with so many layers. How she worked through problems and situations was so fun to read.The ending was so sad but also empowering for Daunis and extremely realistic. I cannot wait to read the second book in this series!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Medical content

alexiconic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

a perfect mixture of real life events and impact with a fictionalized time, place, and community. the echoes of events in our world are omnipresent, but the story never felt like it “had” to match anything, or like it suffered from a need to attach to the present. 

this book had everything. good twists, a wonderful hero with her own demons and dilemmas, intricate and difficult family relations, friendship and community, and an articulation of that time of life where we try to find our purpose on earth. oh, and a thrilling crime-y plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation

skudiklier's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I enjoyed this book on a lot of levels--the plot, the characters, the mystery, what I learned about Ojibwe culture and traditions--and definitely found it suspenseful and engaging. I wouldn't say the writing itself is my favorite (I felt like it did a lot of telling rather than showing), but it wasn't bad by any means and didn't distract from the story. I couldn't tell how it was going to end and I felt pretty satisfied with the ending

(especially that it didn't force a HEA for the romance when that would have been unhealthy)

. Overall I'd definitely recommend this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation

megob's review against another edition

I really loved the book, up until the part where I stopped.

I totally understand that books can't all have a happy ending, and that this ending--had I read it--probably wouldn't be *un*happy, but I'm disappointed that that's how it went. Yeah, I was surprised, but I wouldn't have read the book knowing the ending. And that kinda ruins it for me.

 

First half of the book gets 5 stars. Third quarter gets 4 stars. Last 6% gets a DNF 🤷

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Police brutality

If you're looking for spoilers based on content warnings.

the main character experiences or sees all the things listed above happen in her community. Multiple deaths throughout the book, many of which the reader is present for. Descriptions of her grief after these deaths. Neurodivergency affecting her experience of grief and understanding of the situations. A gun is directed at the main character. Descriptions of those in the throes of addiction. Graphic description of sexual assault with "fade to black" followed by internal and external gaslighting and the suggestion that this was not his first assault. Drugging and kidnapping resulting in confinement and forced compliance with illegal activity. Car accident follows which results in medical trauma and death.

At that point I stopped reading, so I'm not certain if anyone was brought to justice but it seems like they would be. Putting it all out there it seems like a horrible story, but it's really really not! The pacing and atmosphere of the first half of the book are very different from the last half.

eve81's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism

cutlet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment