Review: Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

I think Angeline Boulley has installed herself as one of my favorite authors. I’ve now read two books by her, and both of them were phenomenal. How does she do it?

Today I have a review for the book I most recently finished, Warrior Girl Unearthed. I’m very happy that I started my year off with this book (well, technically I started it last year, but I only just finished it). It was a fantastic read and it sets a promising feel for the rest of this year’s reading.

Title: Warrior Girl Unearthed
Author: Angeline Boulley
Genre: YA Mystery
Series: None (It would be helpful to read Firekeeper’s Daughter before WGU, but it isn’t necessary; WGU can stand on its own)
Page Count: 400 (hardcover)

Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that was entirely not her fault, she’s stuck working to pay back her Auntie Daunis for repairs to the Jeep.

Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn’t feel so lost after all.

But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the “Warrior Girl”, an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors’ remains, and Perry and the Misfits won’t let it go on any longer.

Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline’s perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right – for the ancestors and for their community.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper’s Daughter comes a thrilling YA mystery about a Native teen who must find a way to bring an ancestor home to her tribe.

Content Warnings

kidnapping – murder – mentions of sexual assault – missing persons

There are no spoilers in this review.

I feel like I’ve forgotten how to write a book review, so we’ll see how this goes.

Warrior Girl Unearthed is narrated by Perry, a seventeen year old and the cousin of Daunis from Firekeeper’s Daughter. (Perry and Daunis are technically cousins, but because of the age difference, Daunis has a more motherly role, hence why she’s known as Auntie Daunis). If you’ve read FD, Perry was around six in that book, so it’s been about 10 years.

“Doing the right thing for the right reason, with a good heart and clear intentions, matters.”

Perry’s a bit impulsive and immature, but I loved her as a protagonist all the same. The rest of the characters were fantastic as well. I loved all the Misfits and the relationships that Perry had with each one of them. I also enjoyed seeing Daunis as an adult, with a kid of her own. To be honest, though, I feel like the hidden stars of the show are Granny June and Minnie Manitou.

I listened to WGU on audiobook, and I definitely recommend it. If I had been reading a physical book, I probably would’ve skimmed most of text that wasn’t written in English. With the audiobook, I was able to listen to the language being pronounced and truly pay attention to it. It’s a beautiful language to listen to.

“You jump, and I’ll catch you. Every time. I’m your ride or die, niijiikwe.”

I learned so much about Native American tribes and repatriation in this book. I hadn’t heard about NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) before reading this, so it was interesting to learn about the laws that have been put in place.

This book definitely does not sugar coat anything. There’s a lot of serious topics discussed, including the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis and stealing of Native American people’s dead bodies. I would definitely recommend checking the CWs before reading this.

I feel like there is potential for another book. I feel like some things weren’t tied up all the way. If there is, I have suspicions for who the narrator is.

My Rating: 5/5 dragons