Book Review: Firekeeper’s Daughter

It is only January, but I am pretty sure I have found one of my top books of the year.

The characters in this book are beautifully written. Each character is given a voice that expresses the complexities of life within a Native American tribe. Daunis is strong, smart, and independent. Seeing life through her eyes took me through every emotion. She experienced so much pain, yet was still able to see beauty in the world around her and in the people around her. Daunis finds herself caught between two worlds, her mother’s family is white, while her father’s is Ojibwe. Though her father died in a car accident, she maintains her relationships with her tribe through her aunt. She is a part of both worlds, yet, she never truly feels part of either one. 

I absolutely loved reading the passages that described the different tribal ceremonies and traditions. It gave me just a glimpse of something that I would love to learn more about. It was incredibly interesting to see a little about the traditional medicines used by Daunis’ tribe and how they related to her own chemistry knowledge. It was heartbreaking to realize how much of the pain was happening not far from where I live.  

This book deals with a number of heavy topics, from drugs and abuse to sexual assault and neglect. These topics are all dealt with in a very real way. The plot took many twists and turns, but I never felt lost. Every twist, very turn, and every heavy topic was done with so much intention. Nothing ever felt pointless or frustratingly out of the way. The ending was amazing. As soon as I finished the last hundred pages, I just sat there, staring at the screen of my kindle. 

Basically, all my thoughts amount to one thing. Read this book.

5/5 stars in every possible way.