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bookshopcat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely loved this book, in part because to me it's one of the most seamless, well done integration of the supernatural into the modern world, particularly how the MC's ghost powers interacted with her everyday life. The pace was kind of slow in the first half, but it picks up and the ending and final confrontation was a tense fascinating set of scenes that had me hooked until the very end. MC was very likable, smart and moved the plot along beautifully though she was not without faults. That said, she was also surrounded by a very robust support network, many of which are strong women themselves. She was also ace!so loved the rep and the details that her being lipan apache also brough to how she interacted and moved through the world. Very subtle and natural. Loved all of them, this story just hit for me, would absolutely reread again.
dmcvey2719's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
alonewithsheep's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
there were parts of this that were a little slow, but it really did pick up around the middle, and towards the end i really couldn't stop reading. overall, i loved this book, especially the (platonic!) relationship between ellie and jay. and i adored the ending.
icountcards's review against another edition
3.5
Fun quick read and interesting story. Neat to see an aroace lead! Teetering a bit between YA and middle grade and could’ve done with an allover revision to push it solidly into one or the other. The writing could use a bit more show-don’t-tell in a few places. I would recommend this book to readers aged 10-13.
animaepanda's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book!
I love love LOVED the friendship between Ellie and Jay. They made me so happy!
I’m so glad that Trevor got the justice he deserved, and that Abe Allerton was punished for what he’s done. I also liked how what Ellie’s plans for the future is to get rid of “future Willowbees.”
At the end, I teared up twice: once when the coyote person said that “something changed last night. It’s safer.” That really hit me right in the feels. And 2) when Kirby came back!
My only real critique is that Ellie and Jay did feel a bit young for how old they were (which was old enough to have a drivers license). In general the book felt more like Middle Grade than a Young Adult — though that’s not a problem! It’s more a problem with the marketing.
4 stars!
hermioneclone1848's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
anarkali11's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
jassmine's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book up after finishing [b:Harrow the Ninth|39325105|Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)|Tamsyn Muir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1602323622l/39325105._SY75_.jpg|60943273] so you can imagine that it was a nice change of pace and level of obscurity and really made me enjoy this read quite a bit. An unforeseen consequence of this though was me having Expectations about the mystery aspect of this book. The Expectations weren't met...
It's definitely a lovely book though. Our protagonist Ellie - short for Elatsoe - was a delight to follow as was her best friend Jay. I especially appreciated that Ellie's family was very present and supporting throughout the whole story (as opposed to the favourite orphan narratives). Oh, and there is also a ghost dog! If you are an animal person, there is a lot to look forward to in this book.
I also really loved the way Darcie Little Badger blended fantasy elements and indigenous practices - the vampire scene has to be my favourite (not spoiling it for you!), but there were a lot of other smaller gems too. Also, the prehistorical elements... I was very much a dinosaur kid, so those brought me a lot of joy.
Overall, this was great and I would definitely recommend the book! I really wish it got translated to Czech, I think my little brother would love to read about the "femme" boy Jay. I really loved what the book did with a lot of the gender expectations, but I did feel that it could be improved. The mystery line of the book had some really cool elements going that felt a bit flat at the end and I think they could have been connected better. And the same could be said about some of the smaller subplots. It was still good though, definitely would recommend for its intended age group (since I feel the simplicity of the resolution is less of a problem there). I'm really looking forward to reading [b:Sheine Lende|190854829|Sheine Lende (Elatsoe, #2)|Darcie Little Badger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1695088662l/190854829._SX50_.jpg|193139707] when it comes out!
Also, the illustrations! And I listened to the audio and it was pretty great!
BRed at WBtM: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22700257-elatsoe-by-darcie-little-badger---january-2024
It's definitely a lovely book though. Our protagonist Ellie - short for Elatsoe - was a delight to follow as was her best friend Jay. I especially appreciated that Ellie's family was very present and supporting throughout the whole story (as opposed to the favourite orphan narratives). Oh, and there is also a ghost dog! If you are an animal person, there is a lot to look forward to in this book.
I also really loved the way Darcie Little Badger blended fantasy elements and indigenous practices - the vampire scene has to be my favourite (not spoiling it for you!), but there were a lot of other smaller gems too. Also, the prehistorical elements... I was very much a dinosaur kid, so those brought me a lot of joy.
Overall, this was great and I would definitely recommend the book! I really wish it got translated to Czech, I think my little brother would love to read about the "femme" boy Jay. I really loved what the book did with a lot of the gender expectations, but I did feel that it could be improved. The mystery line of the book had some really cool elements going that felt a bit flat at the end and I think they could have been connected better. And the same could be said about some of the smaller subplots. It was still good though, definitely would recommend for its intended age group (since I feel the simplicity of the resolution is less of a problem there). I'm really looking forward to reading [b:Sheine Lende|190854829|Sheine Lende (Elatsoe, #2)|Darcie Little Badger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1695088662l/190854829._SX50_.jpg|193139707] when it comes out!
Also, the illustrations! And I listened to the audio and it was pretty great!
BRed at WBtM: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/22700257-elatsoe-by-darcie-little-badger---january-2024
kimberlymichelle's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I’d definitely recommend this book to readers aged 10-14.
Good world building.
Good world building.