“Maybe, sometimes, wants felt like needs. Because the alternative hurt too bad.” 

“Tradition accommodated the adaptable nature of humankind.” 

“It's hard to know that you're flying too high until the feathers start dropping.” 

"That's why some stories are particularly important. They're more than entertainment. They're knowledge."

I loved so many things about this book. First off, going in, I felt like the writing was a bit on the younger side of young adult. That didn't necessarily turn me off but middle grade and younger YA can be very hit or miss for me so I was cautiously optimistic. And this book did not disappoint. It handled a lot of heavier topics in a very age appropriate manner. The speculative elements were amazing. I want this novel turned into a movie just so I can have visual imagining of Kirby! He easily became one of my favorite characters. The murder mystery was really intriguing and kept me wanting more and more. I also loved how Ellie's asexuality was stated but not made into the defining feature of her personality. I think that's a great way to create a talking point with kids given the audience. The main character and her family belong to Lipan/Apache culture and I loved how integral their culture was to the story. There are definitely conversations about colonization and the value placed on BIPOC in white, American society. Overall, I would recommend this novel to just about anyone and I will definitely be picking up more from Little Badger!

I do love a good supernatural murder mystery, and this incorporates a fabulous supernatural murder mystery. Also, teenager who have great relationships with their (all living!) parents, which is too rare in YA fantasy. 

Lots of my thoughts are spoilery, but Little Badger has done a great job of meshing Lipan and European beliefs (supernatural and otherwise) in terms of the implications of one meeting the other. Also, Ellie, our protagonist, and Kirby the ghost dog, are adorable. 

I was really excited for this book, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. It's very SFF, which is not my thing. I wasn't really enjoying it at the 100 page mark but I decided to keep going. The dialogue isn't very good, the plot has lots of holes, and I didn't like a lot of it, but the story and culture were fascinating and kept me reading. Overall I didn't love it but it also wasn't the worst book ever.