Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

165 reviews

ruffian23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Colonisation

jesspajamas's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

The Firekeeper’s Daughter immediately hooked me in and was a beautiful read from start to finish. I feel like it’s categorized as YA due to the age of the protagonist, Daunis, who has just graduated high school. But the themes that the narrative touches on are extremely mature. Daunis’ story covers a LOT - an Anishinaabe community grappling with the violent after-effects of colonization, loss of loved ones, drug abuse, missing and murdered indigenous women, and SA - but each topic is handled with deep care and complexity. I cried throughout this book both from the depth of pain that Daunis and her Ojibwe community experience, and from the depth of love and connection that the community holds in equal measure. The Firekeeper’s Daughter is fundamentally a story about love and the strength that we find within ourselves when we know that our community has our back. It reads like a love letter to Indigenous women and the cultural teachings that colonization could not erase. As a non-native person I am so grateful for all that Boulley shared about Ojibwe culture through Daunis and her elders, friends, and family. Miigwech!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? No

4.75

The Run-Down: Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley is a masterclass in storytelling, worldbuilding, and character development—with important thematic exploration and messages to boot.

 

Review: 

I actually read Boulley’s second book, Warrior Girl Unearthed, before Firekeeper’s Daughter. Consequently, I went into Firekeeper’s Daughter with high expectations, but I wasn’t prepared for those expectations to be so thoroughly surpassed. The book may start off deceptively tame, but very quickly it proves itself to be one-of-a-kind in terms of its plot, subject matter, and depth. Boulley completely and totally immerses her reader’s into the world and dynamics of her characters, and she’s not afraid to tackle some seriously difficult topics with an admirable level of realism and grit. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who is an older teenager or older.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Car accident, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Police brutality, and Death of parent

leahkalantai's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Grief

Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

ms_read's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

quinnpjd930's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

mximlay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

5.0

It’s rare for a book to make me cry, this book is one of those rare books.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

wquindley's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

holy moly, this book was an unexpected rollercoaster of emotions. the first book i have loved in months. i couldn’t put it down. i learned so much about indigenous tribes through reading this all while swept away by a beautifully written heart wrenching story. she writes about so many difficult topics. i can’t believe that this book has been on my TBR for so long and that this is angeline boulley’s debut novel. amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

meat_muffin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Car accident, and Death of parent

crystalsparkles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

Wow, I learned so much from this story. Thank you to the author for sharing it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail