Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley is a new genre and new author for me. I liked the main character immediately. Her family has experienced losses and although she’s eager to flee her small community she postponed her academic plans to look after her family. She feels very conflicted about her roles within the community and culture. I liked how she formed a fast bond with Jamie because she needs confidence and the assurance she received from him. There is a fair amount of native words used that I had no clue what their meaning was, which while remaining true to the story, left me hanging with lack of definition. The ending was also incomplete. Will there be a follow up book?

The only thing more beautiful than this cover, as far as I can tell, is the beginning of the story inside it. It starts off with a startling first bit, cutting it off in a bit of a cliff hanger and then switching to the “before” events leading up to how the main character got there. I am absolutely dying to read the rest!

I can't wait to finish this book! This is hands down going to be one of the most powerful books written this year. I really enjoyed this sneak peek and can't wait until March 16!

Daunis is a senior in high school, ready to leave for the University of Michigan in the fall, but in the aftermath of a family tragedy, she decides to attend Lake Superior State University. She is assigned to be an ambassador for Jamie, the new boy on the school's hockey team.

Daunis' best friend is having trouble with an ex-boyfriend. He used to be an honor student, taking all the AP classes. Now, drugs have taken that all away. Lily wants to help him, and can't walk away.

When Lily goes missing for a day, Daunis worries. When Lily and Travis show up together at the party, Daunis knows something is wrong. But, when Travis pulls a gun, Daunis fears for her life.

I was only able to read a sample of this book, but it grabbed me and wouldn't let go. It is as beautiful as it is powerful. I am anxiously awaiting my chance to read the rest.

I loved this contemporary YA thriller set in a small town in the upper peninsula of Michigan and the Ojibwe reservation. A star hockey player and an incredible student, 18-year-old Daunis has strong ties to friends and family, but she has never felt fully whole as she has straddled the wealthy, privileged world her mother was from and the Native family of her father. As she finds herself wrapped up in a horrible crime, she is also on a quest for her own identity. Great characters, excellent writing, and a page-turning plot make this a must-read for fans of YA. Note there is language, sex, and drugs.

The start to a really gripping story! While this was just a sample, it immediately hooked me and I so look forward to finishing it. This is the story of Daunis, a young Ojibwe girl and her relatives, friends and classmates living on the reservation in Sault Ste Marie. Daunis has a complex relationship with her family,who have suffered some recent tragedies. These incidents have led Daunis to change college plans to remain closer to home. Jaime, a new classmate enters her life, a hockey player like she is, so she starts showing him around the town and finds herself very attracted to him. While attending a party, things change in the flash of a gunshot. A fantastic start and I cannot wait to get my hands on the rest of the story. Vibrant characters, descriptions of tribal life and a very realistic look at the challenges Natives face both off and within the reservation. An outstanding and important work.

This sneak peak was so good I am dying for more. I cannot wait until the full book comes out in March.
I'm invested in Daunis Fontaine and whatever it is that life is about to throw at her.
The story has a strong, distinctive, narrative voice, and the writing style is compelling and addictive.
I also just want to throw in that Granny June is hilarious.
Unfortunately, it's hard to say a lot more without reading the whole book. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it.

This book opens with some great prose and a quickly engaging plot. Boulley's writing is superb! Native American folklore is something we need much more of in books and this one looks to be a fantastic read!

This book drew me in from it's first lines and I was sad when I reached the end of the preview. I definitely want to read more of this Own Voices story and can't wait to finish Firekeeper's Daughter when it publishes.
Many thanks to Henry Holt and Co and NetGalley for the early preview of this title.

The short sample of this book makes me excited to read it come March. The story revolves around a Native teen who seemingly doesn't fit in on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. The sample and synopsis hint at this book becoming a crime thriller where our MC must uncover a conspiracy harming her people.

Other full reviews for this story make me think this book touches on crime, racism, identity, and other key topics still present affecting Indigenous peoples today.

This book just wasn't for me. It felt like young teen but with older teen concepts, and I just couldn't keep reading it unfortunately. I loved that it is indigenous, as there really aren't that many books like it out there though. It just wasn't for me sadly.

PLEASE give me the rest of this book! This is a terrific novel about young Native people in and around an Ojibwe reservation, touching on tribal registration laws, how traditions are kept or abandoned, and the poverty and drug use among all ages. Narrator Daunis is an athlete, a caregiver, a sister, and daughter whose goals and hoped-for future are continually shifted because of illness and violence. Her voice is compelling and her narration conveys information about tribal life and local practices without being pedantic, and I can't wait to read the rest of this book.

Awesome preview! I'm looking forward to reading the entire book once it's released. From the sampler, we get a preview of how Daunis' life is going. She just derailed her college plans to stay home after a family tragedy. She meets her brother's new teammate, Levi and the two of them quickly become friends. The sampler leaves off on a cliff hanger and left me wanting more.

Since this was just the sampler it is difficult to give a full review however, from what I have read, I am hooked. Would really like the read the book in its entirety. Great characters and awesome cover.

This sampler is so good. I just went to download the full arc to continue. The sampler ends at a very serious part and I needed more. Loving the writing so far.

This book is one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2021. As soon as I read the description, I knew I had to read it. So, I of course jumped at the opportunity to read the chapter sampler offered by NetGalley and I am so glad I did!

Firekeeper's Daughter follows 18-year-old Daunis as she navigates grief, family tragedy, fitting in with her Native community, and preparation for her freshman year of college. Her quest for family acceptance and the acceptance of her community is heartfelt and relatable, and her relationships with other characters are intriguing.

Boulley has created a narrative that sucks the reader in. While it is a bit slow at the beginning, the characters make the story interesting. I cannot wait to read how Daunis navigates through the story after the cliffhanger this sampler left me with. I am so excited to read more!

Samplers are always difficult to review but this one definitely piques my interest. I can't wait to see where the rest of the book goes!

Brilliant! I cannot wait to read the full book. This is steeped in Anishinaabeg tradition, and feels like it’s going to be the perfect thriller.

Sampler, sneak peak. These are notoriously difficult to review but the chapter sneak peek looks promising

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the sampler! This review is based on a sampler, which consists of the first 9 chapters of the book.

This is such an interesting start to the book! Firekeeper's Daughter follows Daunis, a half white and half Anishinaabe girl with a complicated family history living in Sault Saint Marie, Michigan. I didn't know this was set in Michigan going into this book, but it was a pleasant surprise to read a book set in my home state. My favorite part of this book so far is how important Anishinaabe culture is to Daunis. She is so involved in her culture and her family and I appreciated how much of it the author included in the book. There's quite a bit of Ojibwe language included (with translations) and I hope the final copy includes a pronunciation guide in the back to help readers who aren't familiar with the language.

Obviously I can't comment on the whole book since this is a sampler, but I'm very intrigued on where it goes! There's a potential romance being set up between Daunis and Jamie (the "new guy" who joins her brother's hockey team) and it'll be fun to see where that goes. The sampler ends on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to see what happens next! This is a promising start and I'm excited to pick it up when it comes out in March!