Review of What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo

 

 

 This book is about Eleanor, who has spent many years away at boarding school, and bloodthirsty family. She must figure out how to fit back into her family and control the darkness within her in order to save her family from distruction.

I found the premise of this book to be very interesting and something I haven't really read before and I was very excited to read this, however I had a hard time actually getting through the book once I got about 40% of the way through. The story, while good, just moved a bit too slow and made it feel as though it was dragging. I did find that the last 50 or so pages were really good. I think that for what the premise of this story is, there just was not enough action throughout the book. The last chapter and epilogue did make it so that I was glad that I did stick with the book and finish it but I would have liked it to have moved at a bit of a quicker pace.

Review of Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

 

          Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley is a thriller about Daunis Fontaine who gets convinced to help the FBI investigate the meth trade that has started coming from the nearby Ojibwe reservation when she witnesses her friend's murder.  She is able to use her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicines to help track down the source of the new lethal meth.

I found this book to be completely riveting and was completely drawn in and once I got about a quarter of the way in, I could not put this down!  The descriptions of places in Michigan's Upper Peninsula had me homesick, especially Tahquamenon Falls.  The way in which the struggles of identity and the reality of violence against women (especially indigenous women) are interwoven into the larger story makes everything feel so much more real and high stakes.  When the plot twist and reveals happened, I couldn't believe how amazingly it all came together!

Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and BookishFirst for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.