The Firekeeper’s Daughter

TW: drug addiction, suicide, murder, assault, rape

<2.6 stars
I did like this book but as the book progressed, I felt as if my list of cons grew longer. (You can read this and draw your conclusion; this is just my personal opinion.) I was excited at first because I had liked Warrior Girl Unearthed and expected a similar reading experience. It started fine but went downhill when I was about 40% through the book. I felt that at that point it was trying to cover too much ground. To me, it felt that the story was spread thin and left many things unresolved. While I did learn about Ojibwe culture and language, it does become lost with everything else going on.

The romance in this story was unnecessary. With everything else going on, I saw zero chemistry between the characters. To me, this came off as instant love. Instead of helping in character development, I believe it actually stunted them. Jamie felt like a generic character, whose predominant personality trait is his job and being “hot.” Also, his saying, “I love how you see the world,” was an immediate ick. It felt very manic, like a pixie dream girl, not like other girls. This is further established by Daunis's inner monologue. Although I liked the fact that she was a huge science geek and played hockey, I didn't really like the ongoing comments she had about her girls. (This happens more towards the beginning.) This is notable by calling the girlfriends of hockey players ‘parasitic': “I won't be a wannabe anglerfish trying to latch on to a guy who is already taken. There are more comments like this throughout the book. This never really gets addressed unless it shows that her comments about these girls were correct.

Overall, it was an okay book but certain plot points made it drag on. I am likely not going to be recommending this book to anyone at this time.

I didn't care for this. I think I get why it's popular. It's a very rare perspective in literature—which I appreciate. But I didn't find the story compelling.

Read if...
-You want a better understanding of Native American culture without reading a non-fiction book.
-You have no clue what being part Native American is like.

Don't read if...
-You don't like profanity.
-You don't like sexual references.
-You don't like drug references.
-You don't like references to spirits.