"Sugar Island is always ready to welcome our warrior girls home, where they are loved."

When I read Firekeeper's Daughter back in 2021, I knew Angeline's writing and story were special. She opened my eyes to realities that I hardly knew anything about, and I feel in love with her characters, specifically the lead Daunis. Almost a decade and a half in book time, Warrior Girl Unearthed begins, and we get to meet the new generation of teens within the Ojibwe community and to see what happened in adulthood to FD characters.

"It's like when waves crash against rocks and rebound back into the lake. Waves come at me every which way. It's the ones you never see coming that pull you under."

Now it's hard to not compare this title to FD. I'm bringing this up immediately because I know people will have something to say about it. I tried hard not to, but the stories follow different people within the same family, so it's hard not to think of Daunis/ her story when she's chastising our new lead Perry Birch-Firekeeper. The distinction in Perry as a lead was VERY apparent. She's three years younger than Daunis was in her own book, and Perry's immaturity is blunt. I had to keep reminding myself that, of course, Perry would not be as mature as Daunis because three years in teenager years is basically a century and a half. She's impulsive, head-strong, and frank. She's not afraid to communicate her feelings to people even when it may not be in her, or her community's, best interest, but all of those reasons are why she is a great lead. It's the reason why she concocts this plan to save her ancestors bodies/ ancestors' sacred items from museum archives/ inhumane "collectors."

"My ancestors had names, and they lived through good times and bad times. They dreamed of me. And I dream of them. Aho."

"Stealing our bones is wrong. Always was; always will be. The only point of view that matters is the one by those of us who want our ancestors back."

The heist is an interesting element to the plot. There's a lot of talking and no action until the final 100 pages when Perry and her crew actually commit the heist. While I'm not going to go into the specifics of the heist due to spoilers, the outcome was incredibly surprising to me. I did not think the outcome was hinted at or even foreshadowed much. It felt out of left field, and then, the subsequent events felt rectified in a very quick fashion. Not a lot of time was allotted to this situation, and when contrasted with all the research/ conversation scenes, I felt more time could've been given to Perry and this moment, so we could've guessed the "big reveal." The whiplash within that climactic scene would've been less intense too. Also, a significant murder happens in this book. I'm not going to detail who or why, but it felt easily rectified too.

Daunis is thrown into jail as soon as this happens, and I think more time could've been given to this plot point besides the scene where the actual murderer confesses. That plot alone could've been this entire book because Daunis was seemingly an easy scapegoat, and it would wrap up her loose ends from the first book. But if that had happened, then this wouldn't be Perry's book. It would be Daunis Part II.

Overall, the missing Indigenous women, surprise murder, and reclaiming ancestors/ ancestor artifacts was a lot to put into this 400 page book. It muddled the pacing and impact of these imperative moments. FD was so impactful because Angeline paid attention to the intricate details and wrote those scenes raw. That feeling was lessened in Warrior Girl Unearthed.

"Warriors might lose a battle, but they keep their eyes on what truly matters—the final result."

Warrior Girl Unearthed is a must-read contemporary for everyone—just like Firekeeper's Daughter. I don't think people should read this one before FD because spoilers for the first book are rampant. Plus, it flows with the time period better from the early 2000s to mid 2010s. I'm so excited to see what else Angeline has up her writing sleeve because she writes so beautifully about her Ojibwe community. It's a treat to feel the love for her people and her culture with every new book.

"Everything is connected, Little Sister. The past. The future. The beginning and ending. Answers are there even before the question. You're supposed to go back to where you started. And if you step off the path, you better keep your eyes wide open."

Thank you to Fierce Reads for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.