Elatsoe

I loved it, it was pretty fun and interesting, learned a lot about the Lipan Apache people, and found the setting to be unique. it was a fantasy paranormal mystery, how cool is that? set in a world where the magical and paranormal are pretty normal, and it had no romance which for a YA book it's very rare, so I loved it even more! Elatsoe (Ellie) was so cool, I liked her! 

So many great elements here (Lipan Apache culture and history, a well realized magical world, a platonic central friendship, close family relationships and history) but it definitely needed to be edited and marketed for MG because this is not a YA book. Elly reads like she's 12 and the action is very Zoinks/Jinkies/Get ‘Em, Scoob. The dialogue is also sometimes very awkward and weirdly inserted to make plot points - like another character saying Elly is asexual - the only mention of that and a weird way to introduce a pretty major identifier for a character. Elly and Jay are also supposed to be long term best friends that, at times in the dialogue, appear to know very little about each other? The art also contributes to the childlike feel of the book. A ProjectLit selection that I'm not quite sure how to sell to teens.

I enjoyed getting an introduction to another person's view of the world and the narrator was a good match for the story.
I will say I sometimes did the finger spinning action meaning, ‘Can we move on, please?' but most of the time it was suspenseful and the ending was satisfying, the not officially titled epilogue was a good wrap up of things for me too.

Very interesting world-building and well done overall. Characterization is flimsy though, and I never felt emotionally moved by anything that happened. (But I'm having a terrible week health-wise so it might be me.) There were also several scenes that did not flow in the narrative and there were more logical places for them.
I am eager to see her next book because the plot itself is creative and solid.

This was a fun read. Elatsoe is an Apache young adult in a slightly stranger America. There are ghosts, vampires, bringing the dead back to life, and other magical paranormal skills. Ellie has a ghost dog that protects her. Her cousin is killed in an automobile accident but Elatsoe doesn't think it was an accident and goes about trying to solve it. I hope there are more stories in this world.

I think I would have really liked this book had I read it around the age of twelve. In fact, I think if you changed the MC's age from 17 to 12, this would be a pretty fabulous middle grade novel. Even as is, I'd be pretty happy to hand this off to one of my fifth graders. I can't even see much benefit to making the main characters 17 other than that they can drive, which in a world that already involves fairy ring transport, seems like kind of a small detail. So yeah, it's a fun story and pretty great to see indigenous mythology prominently featured in modern fantasy, but the plot is pretty Scooby-Doo, the characters act extremely young, and the prose is middle-grade level. Not a bad book by any means, but really not for me.

This reminded me a bit of Garth Nix' Sabriel: a 17ish teenage girl who's got necromancer-y skills, but clearly on the side of good (not evil). Elatsoe does all of it in a lite version. A family member dies, but in true YA sense, it never really touches themes like grief and loss on a heavy scale. There's a bit or lite murder mystery going on, and teenagers with relentless curiousity and rebellion in the mix. There are cute ghost animal companions, the book has some gorgeous illustrations.

All in all, a very good read. I am not the right person to talk about asexual representation (but I did find it refreshing that teenage romance crushing wasn't a theme, thank you!) or indigenous representation... But if those are themes you want in your fantasy reads, definitely pick up Elatsoe.

3.5*

I was expecting magical realism, but this is more alternative reality. In this world fairy rings are... what's the word... hmmm.... a way to travel controlled by the government, because magical residue changes the world. Like global warming kind of thing. Fascinating.
There are vampires and ghosts.
I loved the twist about welcoming vampires into ones home. :-D Perfect!
I do hope there will be more books about Elatsoe :-)

this book fucking SLAPS. I love this worldbuilding, I love Ellie, I love the allegory for colonialism, I love the GHOST DINOSAURS and the VAMPIRES? Why does this cover make it look like it's like a Serious Book. I guess they're ghost dogs but just looking at the cover I had assumed it was about like sled dogs in the snow?? I D K and I know you're not supposed to judge books by the cover but we all do it, and this book does NOT have a fun cover IMO! But it is very fun!! I want you to know that it is fun and great!!!!!!!!

Elatsoe is the story of a Lipan Apache girl who has had the multi-generational gift of raising the dead passed down to her. She's solving the mystery of her cousin's murder after he appeared to her in a dream. I think this was a great mystery - not drawn out, overly-cheesy, or predictable. What I most liked about the story was seeing the intersection of Native myths with other mythical creatures, like vampires and faeries. I loved that the family regularly talks about culture and is continuously explaining the importance of things to their daughter and to other non-Native friends and family. It feels warm and familiar because my family talks about culture and shares and explains in the same way.

I will note that this reads as more middle-grade than YA, but I still enjoyed it a lot as a light read and would definitely recommend Elatsoe. Hoping to read other books by Darcie Little Badger in the future!

3.5 stars. I had high hopes after the positive hype and because I enjoyed A Snake Falls to Earth. I struggled a bit with this teen/YA, mostly because of the pacing. The first 50% is mostly filled with teen dialogue that is a challenge for me and no action, and then the second half I was engrossed. It is a very special book though and I recommend.

 All in all, I really liked this book. It was extremely entertaining, easy to read and interesting to follow. I guess one of its biggest advantages for me is the take on various supernatural creatures featured in the story. Though it's a low fantasy, the magic aspect of it was quite unique and well thought-through. The themes of familial love, friendship, racism towards Indigenous people, the asexual representation (which I, as an aroace person, really appreciated) is another thing that makes this book so good. Moreover, I'd like to mention that I like how Ellie's and Allerton's magical abilities directly correspond with their role in the story. Dr. Allerton's heritage is the magic that can, in some ways, “steal” people's life forces and give them to others. This makes a lot of a sense for a character whose predecessor was a white man who participated in the colonization, stealing the lives of Native Americans to give a place and the chance for long live to white people. Ellie, on the other hand, can wake dead and has a deep connection with the Earth itself. This is a good way to metaphorically represent the importance Indigenous people place on their family, ancestors and the world around in general. However, the one downside of this book is that I can't imagine myself thinking about it ever again. I give it 4 stars, and not 3 or 3.5 (as I would usually do in such a situation) because it was a solid story with good narrative, captivating “murder mystery” subplot and, most importantly, it made a (successful) attempt at exploring very important themes.