Wow! Just wow! I went into this book unsure of what to expect. The cover I felt was a little misleading … I thought it was a fantasy book. But I guess that is what you get for judging a book by its cover. Still… I loved the cover and this novel exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. Wonderful! I will honestly say it is probably one my favorite YA reads this year. I couldn’t put it down!

I don’t want to discuss too much of the summary, so read the published summary above. I think they did a great job summarizing it… concealing some twists, that shocked me a little.

The characters in Fire Keeper’s Daughter were fantastic! Each one was unique and well written. Daunis was a strong female lead; she is real. The other characters feed in to the storyline well. Although there are many characters, each has their part in the storyline. One of the things I love is the tribal stories, history, and traditions. I think this is what makes the story. It takes you to a different place and you learn about a new culture. The mystery and twists are good, but the setting really makes it all work. Interweaving the Ojibew stories and traditions makes this novel stand out.

The only thing I struggled with was language. I loved the use of Ojibew tribal language, but sometimes I couldn’t remember what some words or phrases meant. But it didn’t take it away from the story and I will still give it five stars because the story and characters are so well done!

Congratulations Angeline Boulley on your excellent, debut novel! Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt and Company for an ARC. I look forward to adding this book to our library shelf and for other books by Boulley!