Firekeeper's Daughter

Great opening paragraph, but downhill from there. It just didn't add up, and kept getting less and less relatable. The protagonist/narrator (age 18 or 19) is hyperprecocious, high IQ and EQ, with a maturity and sensitivity that maybe sets a good example for teen readers (this is YA, after all) but IMO more likely flies right over their heads. The ugly twist early on—the one that sets the story in motion—is both implausible and too-convenient; and so it goes, ever more so as the body count grows. At the end, the number of conspirators is just too unbelievably high. Psychopaths are rare, fortunately for us; more than five of them, in a small community, all of them living productive lives while also cooking and distributing meth (to their community), all of them completely unfazed by more and more murders -- it just didn't work for me.

There was also an unpleasant and uninformed plot element involving “hallucinogenic” mushrooms. I almost stopped reading then, but went on in the hope that Boulley was using characters' ignorance to develop an important theme... but no, the ignorance is entirely the author's and it's the sort of thing she will one day be embarrassed about.

Decent writing, and many beautiful illustrations of Native American tradition, lore, respect, as well as challenges, bump this from 2 to 3.5 stars, almost 4, but in the end I need to round down. Boulley is clearly a compassionate soul and a great writer. Her future work will be more relatable and engaging. I look forward to it.