Oh Angeline, you have done it again.

This book wrecked me. And I think it should wreck you too. I feel like whatever review I leave here will not be able to do this book justice. Just know that it is beautiful, heartbreaking, and important. This book speaks for itself better than I ever could.

I can’t say I know a lot about ICWA but after reading Lucy’s story, I am reminded of why it is so important to read diversely. While her story is fictional, it is no less impactful.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. And thank you Angeline for writing these powerful stories.

Lucy Smith was well loved and very sheltered by her doting father. She never knew her mother, but her father indicated that was a good thing.

Then her father got sick. He tried to find Lucy a new care taker by marrying a demure, religious woman Bridget. Following his death, Bridget's true colors begin to show and ultimately leads to Lucy running away and being placed in foster care. There secrets her father kept from her about her mother and her heritage surface, but are ignored by those who should have taken note.

Five years later Lucy is 18 and working at a diner when a man walks in and tells her he works with Native children who were placed into foster care to reconnect them with their tribes and families. Lucy doesn't trust him. At all.

But something sinister is happening and Lucy finds herself needing someone to trust.

Whew this was a wild ride. I've loved all of Angeline Boulley's novels so far, and this is no exception. I work in child welfare and appreciate the tie in and attention to (especially in the afterword) regarding ICWA. This is one I'd definitely recommend to most - a bit of mystery, a lot of character development, found family, community, etc.

Sisters in the Wind is an important and relevant story, but also an entertaining and a well-crafted one. As a child, Lucy Smith ends up in foster care not knowing much about her indigenous heritage, and the standards in ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) are not upheld, leaving her in unsafe homes.

The book takes place when she is 18 and is running from something in her past, with flashbacks to Lucy's experiences that led her to the present. Angeline Boulley put these pieces together beautifully - each flashback gave you enough insight to add to the present-day story, but didn't give too much to spoil the twists. At times I would become frustrated that I wasn't getting more information, but as it was getting close to the end I was able to step back and see how it all came together.

Everything had a place in this book, from the title to the cover art to the use of books, watches, and fire, and it's a story I will be thinking about for a long time. I'm purposely not giving a lot of details of the story because I don't want to spoil anything.

I switched between reading and listening to the audiobook and I loved Isabella Star LaBlanc's narration. Her voice is pleasant to listen to, and she helped bring the characters to life by her voices, tone, and diction. I also appreciate that they used an indigenous narrator, and that she has done the other two books in the Firekeeper's Daughter Series.

Angeline Boulley has done it again! Written with so much raw emotion Sisters in the Wind might be Boulley’s best work thus far. Lucy Smith has never known a home without her father. Seeing as though he died five years ago her life since has been less than ideal. Bouncing around the foster system and then being out on her own has been a rocky ride. When Mr. Jameson offers his help to reunite her with her Ojibwe family she turns him down. However, someone has been following Lucy and Mr. Jameson may be the only one that can help her out of her tangled past.

There are not enough words in the English language to describe how much I love Boulley’s writing, characters and storyline. She continues to blow me away everytime and she writes in a way that I can practically see the characters lifting up, out of the pages. The Native American communities have suffered such horrors and Boulley is not afraid to call them as they are and fight for the rights of all Native People. Every time I read one of her books I walk away with a deeper understanding of the communities around me. Angeline Boulley will forever be an auto-buy author for me, I can’t wait to see what she does next.

Read this if you like:
•thought provoking reads
•past & present story lines
•cameos from past books

Oh my heart. Angeline Boulley writes the best books. Lucy goes into foster care after her father dies. She learns firsthand how foster kids are treated let alone indigenous foster kids. When tragedy strikes, a lawyer wants to help her recover but also connect her to her birth mother. She learns about her heritage & culture along the way. She learns the importance of ICWA. Lucy has been through so much & feels like she can’t outrun the past or fully trust anyone.

I haven’t flew through a nook like this in months. There are a lot of difficult topics discussed in this book but they are so so incredibly important to read about and learn about. This is a book that will stick with me for years to come, just like Firekeepers Daughter did. I hope Angeline writes more in this universe. Thank you Mac audio for ALC

I was so excited to see Daunis and Jamie again after Firekeeper’s Daughter!

As far as the mystery plot line goes… Lucy’s story is tragic and definitely kept me guessing, though not really in a super engaged way. Something about the structure and pacing sucked a lot of the tension out of it. Most of the characters outside of Lucy/Jamie/Daunis felt very vague/uncertain or maybe Lucy’s narration style was super distant?

However, I definitely appreciated getting a closer look at how ICWA can both benefit and fail indigenous children - though Lucy is the only indigenous foster child we actually meet on page, so it felt a little info dumpy in that way.

Boulley is definitely an auto-read author for me