This book was already 3 star disappointing to me for literary reasons, but hearing how the author misused the horrendous experiences of Indigenous children in residential schools to write a story that greatly oversimplifies and glosses over the effects of trauma in children bumped it down to a 2 star for me. I could go on and on about what I didn’t like but you can find more eloquent explanations for most of those things by looking at other one and two star reviews here. The only exception I take to these reviews is that comparing this book to middle grade and/or #kidlit is unfair to genres that often have more complex, nuanced characters and less black and white narratives than this book did. It reminded me more of a certain type of kids movie than a book in that respect. I know a lot of people adored this book beyond anything they’ve ever read, but I said what I said.