This is an own voices YA mystery/thriller, set in the Upper Michigan Peninsula. The story centers around Daunis, an 18-year old biracial woman who is an un-enrolled member of the local tribe and revels in the traditions of her native culture. She is also French-Canadian and “light skinned” so she has privileges that many of her Anishinaabe family and friends doesn’t have.

Daunis should be leaving Sault Ste Marie for college but she changes plans and enrolls at the local college to provide support to her mom who is going through a difficult time. She witnesses a murder and finds herself in the middle of a federal drug investigation. She has to decide if she should help the FBI with their investigation which could potentially put the lives of her family and friends at risk.

Through Daunis’s eyes, we lear about the history and culture within the Ojibwe community and the beauty and strength of female friendships and familial bonds. The writer also highlights issues of racism, violence against women and general neglect of the indigenous community. The way the story pulls you into the Ojibwe way of life is truly remarkable. Think of this book as a cross between There There and With the Fire of High with a murder mystery thrown in……what a ride! While it’s not an easy read, I think the insight into issues the community if facing is well worth it.

Many thanks to Henry, Holt & Co. and Netgalley for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading this sample. The story is possibly more romance than I typically look for, but the writing is good and I want to know more. The cover is gorgeous, definitely something that would make me want to pick it up. Looking forward to reading the rest of the book soon!

I struggled with this sample. Here’s what I got from the book so far: It’s engaging but very slow going and I feel like even after six or seven chapters I still wasn’t hooked.
I was confused at first because I was expecting a fantasy novel but instead it turns out that this is a contemporary novel with lots of alcohol and teen drama.
Another thing I found hard to follow was the untranslated native language as well as the text conversations which were super abbreviated.
Not sure if I want to pick up the full book which is disappointing because I’ve been looking forward to this book for awhile now but I hope others found this book more enjoyable than I did!
Happy Reading Everyone :)

Ugh! I didn't realize I only requested the "Sneak Peak" and burned though it so quick only to find out the book comes out in a few days and is no longer available to request! Looking forward to supporting this author and what feels like a viral book for 2021!!

This sneak peak has me excited to read the rest of The Firekeeper's Daughter. While the cover alone is captivating, the first chapter has completely pulled me in.

This book was AMAZING. I should have gotten my review in sooner because this is a book everyone needs to read. I will be gladly handselling it to people whether they read YA or not. We need more books with Indigenous characters and Danaus really hits the mark. I, am not Native and I certainly cannot speak for my Native American friends, but a lot of Boulley's storytelling and the experiences that Danaus goes through rang true from the stories I heard from friends growing up who were unenrolled and straddled a line between two different communities. The thriller element sucks you in too.

i really enjoyed the first part of this book. although it mostly reads like a contemporary at this point, i loved getting the background to Daunis, her family, and her culture. you can absolutely tell the author spent 10 years on this books - it is such a rich story!

I missed that this was a sneak peek, so I briefly thought where it stopped was the end of the book and, even so, I still liked it even in that moment. This has a rich world an engaging and unique protagonist, and I also enjoy that she's on the cusp of starting college, which isn't something I've seen a lot in YA. I immediately went and pre-ordered so I can find out what happens.

Daunis Fontaine Firekeeper is an eighteen-year-old unenrolled bi-racial member of the Ojibwe nation living in Sault Ste. Marie along the Michigan/Ontario border. Daunis's identity is torn between her maternal family--where her maternal grandparents are wealthy and influential--and her paternal, Firekeeper family and some of the community who believes she is not Ojibwe enough. When hockey god, Jamie Johnson, comes to town, Daunis feels a spark of attraction, even if she knows to look out for "guy-lies," even if she senses that Jamie isn't quite what he seems, even if her best friend, Lily, thinks she should snag him, and even if her protective brother (younger by a few months), Levi, gives the green light. After witnessing a murder and linking the murder of more local folks to meth-use, Daunis is thrown into a world of more secrets and lies. With her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicinal plants in the area, Daunis proves to be essential in uncovering how meth is entering her community and revealing the culprits.

This is a wonderful YA thriller/mystery with a splash of romance. The cover is GORGEOUS, the representation is impeccable, and the whole second-half left me in tears. Daunis is a wonderfully intelligent main character (who also makes dumb mistakes) and the book is written in first-person from her POV. Daunis is the Ojibwe Nancy Drew (maybe Dr. Watson??) as she tries to figure out what is going on in her community and what she can do to prevent the deaths of more young Ojibwe women and men.

I loved the the cultural, spiritual, and medicinal references woven throughout the book and the sense of setting it creates. The characters are layered as each mystery unfolds--from Aunt Teddie to the elders to the villains--and I love the sinister turn the book takes. By the second half, I was suspecting EVERYONE of being behind the drug-ring--including Daunis!--which I think marks a good mystery if I could only guess small portions. Angeline Boulley has created a wonderful masterpiece that I cannot wait see come to life as a Netflix original and definitely cannot wait to see what Boulley will create next!

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley is YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community. After reading the exclusive sneak peak I can’t wait for the full length debut novel to be released.

I enjoyed the sneak peek of the fire Keepers daughter. It was nice to see a different #ownvoices as I am yet to read many indigenous books. Angeline Boulley has a beautifully written debut of young adult Thrillers weaving and aspects of the Native American experience and issues and corruption within their community. I appreciate the author's insight without feeling like I was being lectured at or spoken down to about the problems and traditional practices.

Thus is only a sneak pick so it's hard to say how I feel about this book in general. So far I am intrigued, however, the writing style feel very tedious as it basically lists a lot of irrelevant stuff that keeps going on and on, so when important information comes along it's hard to pinpoint where we should start to care. This is by an indigenous author and that aspect of the story interests me greatly. I'd love to read more of it to be able to give a more accurate rating and review of it.

Looking forward to reading the full book! I'll be requesting and/or buying it. Thank you for the sneak peek

For some reason, I thought this was yet another YA fantasy book. It is not. It is a contemporary YA thriller. Because of this, though, I kept wondering when the magic would show up, and that made me annoyed with it. I think this would probably happen anyway, since the sampler I received is 99% set-up anyway, but still, please take my review with salt. I had expectations for something that was never going to happen because I had misinterpreted the book's genre.
Plot-wise, the blurb summarizes everything that happens. Daunis decides against a fancy medical college to go to the local state college instead so she can care for her grandmother. While her mom is very happy with this, Daunis herself is bummed. Things start to look up when a new boy, Jamie, appears in Daunis' life, whom she starts to become friends with and fall for even as she has lingering suspicions about him. Eventually (on the last two pages of the sampler), things come to a climax as Daunis gets shot while investigating something suspicious. There's a lot of minor events that are supposed to get you invested in Daunis and her relationships with her family and friends along the way, but those are the broad plot-important strokes. The intrigue in Daunis' tribe's affairs and the end of the sampler intrigued me, but otherwise I wasn't particularly excited or interested.
For characters, no one really clicked with me. Daunis is mixed-race, and her struggles are a major part of her character and the story, which I liked. Daunis' aunt is great, and I liked Daunis' friend Lily a lot, but I was less interested in Daunis herself in terms of personality and didn't care for Jamie, who struck me as the one who was going to murder someone once I realized this was a thriller. Daunis feels like a YA protagonist with actual care put into her--she's smart, kind, and feels like an actual teenager. Jamie's tribal situation is different than Daunis', and I liked the parts that explored that, but otherwise he just seemed perfect and boring, even if he was hiding something. Daunis repeatedly trying and failing to deny her attraction to Jamie also got on my nerves, making me dislike him as a consequence. While everyone's personality felt different, no one stuck out as memorable.
For writing, it's pretty good. The dialogue felt natural enough and Daunis' thought process felt natural as well. There's also multiple Ojibwe words that are incorporated into the dialogue in a natural way, which was great; I just wish there was a glossary so I could keep track of all of them. Daunis also swears some nasty things internally, which was refreshing to see with how many books I've read that just have their characters use "damn" or "hell" instead of the things they'd usually know at that age. The only part that really bugged me were the few text parts, in which everyone read like an adult trying to type how they think kids type. It was pretty bad, There's also a lot of telling at some points, but that's about it for bad things I found.

So, I wasn't super happy with this sampler, partially because I had expected the wrong things from it, and partially because of the sampler itself. But even with that, I liked the OwnVoices aspects of this, which focus on a perspective I don't think I've seen in YA before. If the premise interests you, don't let my review stop you. Check it out.

{unrated} this book was really good. I really enjoyed almost every aspect of the short selection I was afforded to read.

I was provided with an e-ARC by the author/ publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! what a fabulous Debut, I am still wrapping my head around this novel. I had no idea what was waiting for me when I began this story, in all honesty, I requested it purely based on the cover.

This was such an important coming of age story that included an array of topics such as, drug use, grief, abuse of many forms; sexual/domestic/ violence against women. At times the pacing of these topics felt a touch overwhelming, yet the rich depth of culture and world-building really made up for it.

the story itself was complex, suspenseful, educational and thrilling. The Mc, Daunis, was/is such a strong protagonist, she felt all too much and fiercely loved her culture, despite feeling misplaced. The commitment she has towards her people and their future is palpable and had my heart aching at times.

This isn't usually my go-to kind of read, yet it hooked me, I loved it, thought the cliff hanger, not so much.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillian Publishing for providing me with an e-sample in exchange for an honest review.

If I could rate a sampler 5 stars this would be it! This story resonated with me from the start, the author has a unique and emotional tone to her writing that just makes these characters feel authentic and familiar. I cannot wait to get my hands on a finished copy.

I'm definitely hooked, this was amazing!
I found myself grinning ever so often with Daunis inner monologue, and it was incredible fast paced!

Can't wait for my copy to arrive.

This seems like a promising YA novel! It took me a moment to get adjusted to the first person present tense perspective, but once I did, I found the experience to be quite immersive. The author does a great job of drawing the reader in quickly, and I think the cover beautifully matches the tone of the novel. I look forward to reading the rest of the book, at some point in the future.

I am so excited for this book! I preordered it already. Thank you NetGalley for the sneak peak! Native American lit + thriller = dream genre. I love what I’ve seen so far and I can’t wait to read in full!