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A review by neenstahs
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
this is one of those books that makes me want to give up on the rest of the YA books i own. whyyyy do i continue to have high expectations for YA? *crying face*
the plot, although implausible i think, is not bad. daunis is an 18 y/o half white half native girl living in the UP. there are issues with meth stirring up the town and the tribe and people are dying. many more getting addicted. she gets roped into being a confidential informant for the FBI investigation into the whole meth ring. her and the younger (22 y/o) federal agent have this fling. etc etc.
what pulled me to this book was 1) the cover and 2) the fact it dealt with native populations and culture. i wanted to learn more - i feel like i don't know enough about this integral part of america. and..... i came away knowing a little more but still having tons of questions. i don't think she did the best job at introducing cultural elements and practices. i'm confused about most things still. and i know i can look them up (and will), but like.... i was hoping the book would give me more. the author could've at least thrown in a glossary at the end with all the terms she was using in the native language?
why did she have to make the main character a "guys girl", a "not like other girls" type character? annoying.
the writing was bad. i really did not jive with the narrator's voice. she likes biology and science, wants to be a doctor. so the author decided to make her an expert on like... all science? she's a chem wizard, knows an unreal amount of environmental biology, anatomist, physicist. and she THINKS in the terms of all these fields - "i watched my ulnar artery pulse in the back of my hand". babe, THAT'S NOT WHERE YOUR ULNAR ARTERY IS. i cannot STANDDD when author's do that. no one who actually knows about these topics thinks like this. and then the author can't even be accurate. plz.
i was actually going to DNF this book multiple times because i was getting so annoyed with how long and repetitive it was while going nowhere. at around the 350 page mark, all the action started happening and suddenly it got pretty good. i thought the twists were great. the ending sequence was overall solid. again, pretty implausible, but i can look past these things in YA. so i'm overall glad i didn't DNF it because i did enjoy the end.
but overall, book was about 150-200 pages too long. and i hardly ever say that. and for how long it was, the characters were criminally underdeveloped. there were sooo many people introduced so quickly and then not really touched on again. then their name would come up later and i'd be like who tf is that.
would i read more from this author? if you asked me at 300 pages, i would say absolutely not. after finishing, yeah i probably would. maybe if it was adult fiction and the premise was captivating.
disappointed. will not be going back to YA for a while.
the plot, although implausible i think, is not bad. daunis is an 18 y/o half white half native girl living in the UP. there are issues with meth stirring up the town and the tribe and people are dying. many more getting addicted. she gets roped into being a confidential informant for the FBI investigation into the whole meth ring. her and the younger (22 y/o) federal agent have this fling. etc etc.
what pulled me to this book was 1) the cover and 2) the fact it dealt with native populations and culture. i wanted to learn more - i feel like i don't know enough about this integral part of america. and..... i came away knowing a little more but still having tons of questions. i don't think she did the best job at introducing cultural elements and practices. i'm confused about most things still. and i know i can look them up (and will), but like.... i was hoping the book would give me more. the author could've at least thrown in a glossary at the end with all the terms she was using in the native language?
why did she have to make the main character a "guys girl", a "not like other girls" type character? annoying.
the writing was bad. i really did not jive with the narrator's voice. she likes biology and science, wants to be a doctor. so the author decided to make her an expert on like... all science? she's a chem wizard, knows an unreal amount of environmental biology, anatomist, physicist. and she THINKS in the terms of all these fields - "i watched my ulnar artery pulse in the back of my hand". babe, THAT'S NOT WHERE YOUR ULNAR ARTERY IS. i cannot STANDDD when author's do that. no one who actually knows about these topics thinks like this. and then the author can't even be accurate. plz.
i was actually going to DNF this book multiple times because i was getting so annoyed with how long and repetitive it was while going nowhere. at around the 350 page mark, all the action started happening and suddenly it got pretty good. i thought the twists were great. the ending sequence was overall solid. again, pretty implausible, but i can look past these things in YA. so i'm overall glad i didn't DNF it because i did enjoy the end.
but overall, book was about 150-200 pages too long. and i hardly ever say that. and for how long it was, the characters were criminally underdeveloped. there were sooo many people introduced so quickly and then not really touched on again. then their name would come up later and i'd be like who tf is that.
would i read more from this author? if you asked me at 300 pages, i would say absolutely not. after finishing, yeah i probably would. maybe if it was adult fiction and the premise was captivating.
disappointed. will not be going back to YA for a while.