Beautiful Debut

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I am honored to be a part of the Fierce Reads tour team for this truly groundbreaking novel by Angeline Boulley. There are not enough young adult books that capture the authentic and culturally significant issues of Native communities. Especially ones that take poignant current events and weave them into a gripping plot with well thought out themes for readers to stay immersed in. I am a bit on the fence on whether I would classify this as young adult simply due to the ages of the characters and certain scenarios, but I would still recommend this read to young adults and adults on either spectrum.

Boulley brought the heart of the Anishinaabe people into stunning perspective. Working through characters like Daunis who straddles the line of biracial acceptance in her community. I loved the strength and fire Boulley wrote into her character. Daunis is thrown into personally hard-hitting situations that not only solidified her connection to her culture as an Ojibwe woman, but steeled her resolve to be true to herself …her truth. I don’t think I’ve ever mentally cheered more for a character’s actions than I have for her.

I would not describe this an action-packed thriller with twists and turns at every chapter. It’s a slow build into the heart of Daunis’ world that is being uprooted by drugs. I highly recommend going in blind and taking your time. The writing style is easy to follow but richly steeped in Anishinaabe traditions and heritage. I loved learning about the customs, stories and aspects of their way of life and appreciated the raw reality of community issues. I sat on my review until today to really take in what I read. Even chatting with other reviewers on their thoughts and feelings. To me, this is so much more than just a YA thriller. This novel is unapologetic and often not easy to read, but more importantly it holds a present-day truth of what Native people struggle with within their communities and against government rules.

Though my great-grandparents were Cherokee, I did not have the privilege of growing up with beautiful traditions and culture and I find myself continually seeking out books with Native American influence to learn from. I hope Boulley writes more novels like this one and I highly recommend seeking out reviews from Own Voice readers to get a better understanding of the reality behind this storyline.

Thank you to Angeline Boulley and Fierce Reads for the stunning gifted copy and the ability to tour with such a great team. I also want to thank Libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener copy. The audio narrative is the perfect way to dive deep into the language and atmosphere of this novel. True rating 4.5/5.

Content mention: addiction, drugs, murder, rape, kidnapping