I was so, so excited to be sent this beautiful book and even more excited to read it. I actually ran a little readalong on Instagram, and it was nice to read with a group.

What I really liked about the book is that it’s so rooted in the community, and explores how Indigenous women support one another where the system usually doesn’t. I liked learning about Daunis’ community and traditions. Daunis and her best friend are a joy to read about, in particular. But the way the women in the community fight for one another is beautiful and powerful. That especially contrasts the way the male characters treat the female characters. They have very little, if any, respect for them which is both angering and sadly realistic especially given the way Indigenous women are commonly treated and targeted.

What was hard to ignore was the romance. There’s a huge power imbalance between Daunis and Jamie that made me uncomfortable. Had the power imbalance not been there, the romance would’ve been fine. But as it is, it’s hard to root for. It was also an exploitative relationship because of the power imbalance, which Daunis isn’t fully aware of at first. It made Jamie incredibly off-putting to me.

I found the hockey aspect and the mystery interesting, though I can’t comment on the accuracy of the FBI’s involvement or the science in the book. I wasn’t too surprised by the reveal because the people involved gave off bad vibes – thanks to foreshadowing and hints -, but I found it interesting the way the book went with regards to who was responsible. The book also talks a lot about identity, and Daunis’ struggles with it.

It’s actually hard to rate this one, as I’m torn between a 3.5 and a 4 star rating. There are things I really enjoyed about the book, and I think it’s an important read despite its flaws. One of those flaws being the romance and the graphic sexual assault as well as mention of a past sexual assault that is completely glossed over. I understand the one instance sexual assault is there to speak to the violence Indigenous women face, but it was jarring and upsetting so please keep that in mind. The other instance of the past assault isn’t handled well at all in my opinion. That being said, I am interested in the author’s next book, which is set in the same community but follows different characters.

I loved this story so, so much. (The narration was excellent as well.) Firekeeper's Daughter hit some heavy, important topics and issues surrounding the Native American community that left an impact on me. I particularly love when these themes are told in a YA novel to pull the reader into the story while also learning about the culture, history, and people. The mystery component kept me intrigued. I love that the love story ends with the protagonist following her OWN dreams and her own future that doesn't have to include the lead male character. This book was really well written. Loved it!

A Riveting and Captivating Story. Excellent! About a woman coming to terms with herself. She is 1/2 White, 1/2 Cherokee.

She ends up working for an undercover worker for the FBI. She does all she can to figure out the true story. However, she comes to wonder who exactly she works for and if their ideals are the same.

I think most were stunned at the beauty of this cover. Definitely, read more. It is so interesting the artwork that went into making this beauty.

This book you guys!
It was so refreshing to read about Native American culture. I can't begin to express my enjoyment for this book. I kept waiting to read it in hopes I'd be in the mood for a "who done it" and I'm so glad I did!
This book was powerful and raw. Daunis is mixed heritage and trying to help her people in this modern crime investigation novels that takes you on a chase to see if Daunis cam figure out the cause of these drug related deaths and how deep the rabbit hole is. A must read. You won't be disappointed

Daunis Fontaine put her dream of college on hold to look after her mother and brother, so the only bright spot in her life is Jamie, the new recruit on her brother's hockey team. She witnesses a murder, drawing her into the FBI's investigation into a lethal new drug. Daunis agrees, and draws on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine, but the investigation exposes old secrets. An additional concern is that the FBI wants to punish the perpetrators without protecting the victims. Ultimately, Daunis has to figure out how to be a strong Ojibwe woman and protect her community.


Angeline Boulley is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa, writing about her Ojibwe community in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. She is a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. This gives her extensive experience not just with the tribe, but with government agencies and the different motivations that people have when interacting with tribes. The FBI agents care about people in the abstract, and are concerned more with getting to the bottom of the drug trade. This leaves Daunis open to scorn and physical dangers when she becomes the informant; her sudden change to being the hockey girlfriend opens her up to slurs and condemnation in addition to her mixed race status, not being an enrolled member of the tribe, and having a trust fund from her white grandmother. She's used to a good number of the comments, which is sad but too true of those caught between cultures of any kind.


My heart went out to Daunis, who sees the slow hemorrhaging of the tribal community due to drugs and few opportunities. The denigration and attacks on women, a reality that too many face outside of fiction, are present here as well. She suffers so much because of the losses in her family: her father dying when she's young, her parents never being able to get together, her grandfather's death, her uncle's disappearance and death, her grandmother's dementia and locked in state from a stroke, the loss of her best friend. These losses continue to mount as the novel progresses, even as she realizes that her uncle played a bigger role in uncovering the drug ring than she knew. As I read more about Daunis and her life, I grieved with her and cheered on her successes. Her strength isn't one of fighting but of connection. This comes to a head by the close of the novel, one that shows her quiet strength in the face of continued adversity against her and her people. This book grabbed hold of me and refused to let go until the last page.

I want to thank Epic Reads and Macmillian for sending me an arc as well as a finished copy of Firekeeper's Daughter.

"Kindness is something that seems small, Daunis, but it's like tossing a pebble into a pond and the ripples reach further than you thought."

This book gave me all the emotions but ultimately it ripped my heart to pieces and made it whole again. I didn't want this story to end, it felt like I could read through 450+ pages more just to watch these characters continue their growth.

Daunis was such a relatable character - smart, driven, family oriented, skeptical and so many more qualities. Her growth throughout the story was done so well, not fast but not slow. She starts as this recently out of high school teenager who is a bit oblivious to the world around her and transforms into this fiercely independent yet nurturing young adult.

It's hard to let people down, and harder still when your expectations for yourself are even higher.

While I did predict how aspects of this story played out, there were still some surprises at the end which really pushed my rating higher. When certain relationships or character arcs unfolded, my initial reaction was a little disappointment but once I continued reading, it all made sense and felt right. The way each characters story ended left me in different emotions - proud, sad, angry, happy - but all those emotions were exactly how they should be. I also loved the weaving of hockey and Native culture, it was something I have never come across in a book before and something I definitely need more of.

Love is a promise. And promises you don't keep are the worst lies of all."

Angeline did such an amazing job with debut novel. I can't wait to read more of her work in the future and see where this writing journey takes her. Also, if you didn't take to time to read the Author's Note, I highly recommend you go back and read it. If you don't take the time to do so, let me share this with you - "More than four in five (84%) of Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime and more than half (56%) have experienced sexual violence. Nearly all (97%) of the Native women who have experienced violence had at least on non-native perpetrator." Read this book. Support Native authors. Do better.

People say to think seven generations ahead when making big decisions, because our future ancestors - those yet to arrive, who will one day become the Elders - live with the choices we make today.

I do feel it necessary to mention some content warnings:
Drug Use, Drug Distribution, Making of Drugs, Sexual Assault, Rape, Racism, Underage Drinking, Death, Violence, Murder, Depression and Kidnapping

This is an incredibly well written book. Daunis is a strong young woman who is facing too many losses. The story itself is compelling with plenty of action and enough of a mystery to keep readers searching for clues. Daunis is not just letting life happen to her. She is using her Indigenous knowledge along with the chemistry that she's studied to investigate and try to protect her community. It's a book I'll be recommending over and over again.

Daunis Fontaine is an 18 year girl straddling a line between two distinct worlds. There's the world of her deceased Native American father's, where Native customs and values impact the habits and practices of everyday life. Then there's the world of her white mother, where Natives are viewed as "below" and leeches of the system, with casual racism being an excepted practice within the white community. Daunis is determined to embrace her Native heritage no matter what hate she endures, and she does so brazenly and without apology as she's seen demonstrated by her father's sister. But her Native friends and community are plagued by an evasive killer. A meth epidemic has claimed more than a handful of her loved ones, and she's found out it's happening in more ways than she suspected. Paired up with two undercover law enforcement officers, Daunis is determined to help unmask the people behind these deaths. But she finds herself entangled in a web she's so unprepared to escape from. Will she help bring those responsible to justice? Or will she find herself fighting for her own life?

Personally, I thought this story was long winded and the writing wasn't that great. I felt like Boulley kept repeating and rehashing Daunis's day to day life, and frankly that took up at least one-fourth of the book. I didn't particularly like Daunis as a character. She was painted as someone with a serious chip on her shoulder when it came to being Native and being a female. I get bored with characters who seem to always be looking for reasons to be angry. I would recommend this book to my students, just because some of them may find it appealing, but I personally was not enthralled and really don't understand the hype or overall enthusiasm for this story.

I'm obsessed with this book.

For starters, the subject matter and setting is wholly unlike anything else I've ever read. It's clear that Angeline Boulley is writing about a place that means something to her because she writes about the scene with such care and attention; there's beauty in every line and such admiration for the nature surrounding our characters.

Daunis is a character that is memorable and likable, and though she sometimes makes questionable decisions, she does it with the best of intentions. She struggles and she fights and she's unique in that she allows her fighting spirit to take over when it needs to. She fights for those she loves, and she has a loyalty to her community that I haven't seen in an adolescent character in... who knows how long.

On top of all these beautiful, admirable elements, the plot is phenomenal. It builds slowly, so you get used to the pace when suddenly, everything amps up and your emotions are in turmoil. It's not just a well-written atmospheric novel, it has an adventure and struggle at its core that is completely engaging.

The author is also not hesitant to take on matters of difficulty, like bias, prejudice, sexual assault, and drug addiction. I have so much admiration for the way Boulley dealt with these complicated matters as she wove them into the story without leaning too heavily on the seriousness of them.

It's an astoundingly wonderful novel; please, please read it.

Angeline Boulley is an Ojibwe author, and this story is full of details about Ojibwe culture and beliefs as a teen tries to unravel the events that led to the death of her best friend and an ever-increasing supply of meth in her community. Truly one of the best YA thriller/mysteries I've read in recent years. // cw: addiction, teen death, sexual assault/rape

Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley

496 Pages
Publisher: MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group / Henry Hold and Co (BYR)
Release Date: March 16, 2021

Fiction, Teen & Young Adult, Own Voices, Native American Culture, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Drug Use

Daunis graduated from high school and is planning to go away to college. Since her grandmother had a stroke, she and her mother look after her at the assisted living facility. Daunis is the illegitimate daughter of Firekeeper family. Her father died before he could claim her as his daughter. Her half-brother Levi is the high school hockey star.

When the teen death rate from drugs starts to rise, the FBI come to investigate. Daunis learns that her uncle David that recently died was an informant for them. They ask her to take his place especially with the hockey team. She is the perfect choice since she has knowledge of chemistry and the Ojibwe tradition. They want to see if there is a connection between ceremonial herb uses and a new type of lethal drug.

I loved this book. The descriptions of the area along with the ceremonies and use of Native words made me feel I was a part of the world. I could see the dancers in their costumes moving to the music. The story was well paced, the characters were fully developed, and the story was written in the first-person point of view by Daunis. If you enjoy mysteries within a Native American culture, you would definitely like this book.

It took me a moment once I finished Firekeeper's Daughter to gather my thoughts. It's certainly a book that sits with you for a while in a good way. A vibrant and heartbreakingly powerful story that focuses on Daunis, a young biracial Native American woman who finds herself caught up in an FBI investigation into the ring of drug dealers responsible for distributing meth in her community after she witnesses a horrifying murder. The investigation tests Daunis in every way possible. I loved Daunis because she is truly a force to be reckoned with. She's determined to protect her community no matter what, even if it means risking her own safety, her relationships, and her own life. She's brilliant, genuine and beyond brave. I thought the romance between Daunis and Jaime was sweet inspite of its clear complications, but I felt super proud of Daunis for how she handled it. This story delves deep into issues faced by Native Americans each day, including the staggering amount of violence against young women and abuse of drugs and alcohol, and how these things are far too often ignored by Americans and their government. The mystery at the center of this story is really tantalizing, and you never know who you can trust. The last couple hundred pages of this story is thrilling and heart-pounding until it's heartbreaking yet hopeful end. I feel grateful to the author for introducing me to the Ojibwe culture and religion in such a beautiful way. I would recommend that readers look up trigger warnings for this book before they begin to read, because there could a lot of triggering material in this story for some. But Firekeeper's Daughters is an absolutely vital story to read, one that shines a light on the challenges and struggles of Native American women and their resilience, and it gives a voice to a community that has long been denied one.

It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, although it wasn't what I expected. I was prepared for some fantasy and a coming-of-age story, but was pleasantly surprised by the grit and mystery. The characters were well developed and believable - pulling me in and getting me invested in their stories. I look forward to reading her next release!

Born a scandal to the unwed daughter of one of Sault Ste. Marie's influential families and a local Ojibwe man, Daunis Fontaine has never felt she fits in to either community. When she witnesses a devastating crime, she becomes an essential part of the investigation.

I really enjoyed this one.

I can see why this got rave reviews, but it wasn't for me, personally - the voice felt younger than the character's age, and the set-up just didn't quite make sense to me. It also felt really judgmental of drug use, especially in the first half of the story, and there was a lot of slut-shaming. This is a heavy read that deals with a lot of big issues, and I liked the main character - but it wasn't a favorite.

a bit long, quite a bit improbable, but good. I had my doubts about if FBI would have ever used an 18 year old to investigate a drug case, even after researching confidential informers. That being said, there was a element of disbelief for me about the novel - especially the relationship that grew between Jamie (the young hockey player detective) and Daunis Firekeeper (our hockey-playing, ambitious, and half native protagonist.
I did love the character of Daunis, and learning about her culture. The novel brings to light many of the issues that native Americans are struggling with - from historical issues to modern day racism, drug addiction and sexual violence. I also loved the learning about the dance costumes, the meaning of the dances, the native uses for herbs, and some of their philosophies. It was really refreshing to read a book that felt authentic in that way.

I was so lucky to get an advanced reader copy of this spectacular book! Along with the powerful and topical storylines, I learned so much about Native American culture, traditions, language, and history. The writing is phenomenal making each character come alive for me. I could feel their love, joy connection, struggles and loss.

I don't want to say too much more about this incredible novel so readers can discover it for themselves without spoilers. But will add that this is a surprising, heartrending read, and I highly recommend to teen and adult readers.

I was also excited to learn that the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company has opted to turn this book into a Netflix series and will look forward to watching it.

This book was a strong 4.5 Star read for me. I knocked half a star because I did guess one of the major plot twists around the 30% mark, but other than that I absolutely loved this story. I listened to the audiobook and highly recommend it. The narrator was great and I enjoyed hearing the pronunciation of the native words. This was a fantastic YA contemporary crime/mystery story. The community was well developed and complex in a way that was easy to follow and believable. Fans of Fredrik Backman's Beartown will enjoy this book.

This was an incredible novel.
Can't rave about this book enough. A must-read. I'm on a panel with Angeline for the Tucson Festival of Books and I'm looking forward to hearing her speak about this important, eye-opening #ownvoices novel. I haven't read anything like it and look forward to more books by her in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read it!

Fiekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley is an engaging thriller of a girl going undercover to help her two communities, one native and one white. This book had a very authentic portrayal of both sides of Daunis's life. I am eagerly awaiting the next offering from this author.