I really wanted to like this book

I really wanted to like this book, the premise of a biracial girl who is caught between two worlds while trying to solve a crime really appealed to me. However, the romance fell very flat, I felt as though the two characters completely lacked chemistry and that the development was not adequate for either of them to get to the point of saying 'I love you'. The overall mystery was ok, there were certain parts where I felt that the characters actions didn't make sense based on their prior characterization.
I was also very unprepared for the sexual assault that occurred in the story and felt that it was shoehorned in there. Sexual assault against native women is a major issue that should definitely be addressed and examined, however, it felt like an afterthought in this story. I would have liked the story to have been paired down a bit so that the author could have focused more on the issue of alcoholism and drug use in native communities, sexual assault, or the stigma around blood quantums rather than shoving them all into one story and not getting to deeply examine any of them.
I appreciate the story for the important representation that it is and I think a lot of it's faults are due to Angeline Boulley being a debut author. I will definitely check out future books of hers as I think she intertwines Ojibwe culture in her book in a really unique way