I received a free e-ARC of Firekeeper’s Daughter thanks to Fierce Reads in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I absolutely loved this book. I’d been anticipating this book since I found out about it’s existence, so when I found out I won an ARC, I was so excited. 

Let me tell y’all, it lived up to the hype. I still find myself thinking about this story, Daunis, and the cast of characters we journeyed with even after the last page has been turned. 

Firekeeper’s Daughter: Strengths

I’m a huge fan of strong female protagonists, and Boulley hit the nail with Daunis. She is biracial and a product of teenage pregnancy. Neither side of her family really embraced her, but she is heavily involved with both. She feels like an outsider but is trying to find her place.

I loved the insight to the Ojibwe community that Boulley weaved into the story. The language and traditions that we learned about was such an important inclusion into the story and an important piece of Daunis’s identity. Another aspect that we see is loyalty. Loyalty is shown in many different ways in this book, but we can see it throughout. Women were loyal to each other during a specific tradition even if they didn’t want to participate. Later, toward the end of the book, we see the elders being loyal to Daunis; I won’t say more as it would be a spoiler. Throughout the book, we see Daunis being loyal to her community during her time with the FBI as she’s constantly wondering whether she should tell Jamie and Ron or keep something to herself for a while.

The storyline itself is so powerful. It covers a plethora of issues including violence (gun, domestic, etc.), drug addiction, grief, sexual assault, racism, unfit parents, corruption, and greed. What starts as an investigation into a drug-operation turns into an eye-opening experience for Daunis into the lives of those around her. We’re taken on a thrilling, dangerous, hope-filled ride as we search for answers with Daunis.

Boulley’s masterful telling of Firekeeper’s Daughter is one that won’t be forgotten. I highly recommend this book. I’ll be keeping Boulley on my radar.