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A review by shomla_msawesomesaucey
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
5.0
I am not an own voices reviewer so please check out own voices reviews from Native American, specifically Lipan Apache, and LGBTQIA+ reviewers, bloggers, booktubers and bookstagrammers for a more comprehensive and honest review.
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars.
I read this book as part of Indigathon (@_indigathon), which is a readathon based in November which is Native American Heritage Month to celebrate Indigenous authors and stories. And I think this is supposed to be a middle grade story and I definitely read like one! I absolutely loved the story and the characters! Ugh, it was so good.
This book is named after our main character Elatsoe aka Ellie. She comes from a long line of Lipan Apache women who have the ability to bring back the dead in ghost form. The story revolves around the sudden death of Ellie’s cousin Trevor and the mystery behind it.
It was super interesting to learn about the lore behind this and I loved how Ellie’s family is so close and have each other’s back through thick and thin. I thought Ellie was awesome and her enthusiasm and personality really kept the hope and upbeat ness of the story. I loved how the author brought in heavy but relevant topics such as the appropriation of Indigenous lands, how various Indigenous tribes were massacred, and etc.
I also loved our side characters; like Pat and Vivian (Ellie’s parents), Jay, and Al and Ronnie. They really helped flesh out the story and gave Ellie the support she needed. Also, the addition of different fantastical beings such as vampires was very cool. I also thought the concept of vampires cannot be in a place when they are uninvited, like Ellie did with one Euro-vampire, very interesting and a subtle way to talk about the usurping of Indigenous lands.
Overall, I think this is a great story and I think anyone who likes middle grade, urban fantasy with a bit of spookiness and also Indigenous representation, this one is it!
I gave this book a 5 out of 5 stars.
I read this book as part of Indigathon (@_indigathon), which is a readathon based in November which is Native American Heritage Month to celebrate Indigenous authors and stories. And I think this is supposed to be a middle grade story and I definitely read like one! I absolutely loved the story and the characters! Ugh, it was so good.
This book is named after our main character Elatsoe aka Ellie. She comes from a long line of Lipan Apache women who have the ability to bring back the dead in ghost form. The story revolves around the sudden death of Ellie’s cousin Trevor and the mystery behind it.
It was super interesting to learn about the lore behind this and I loved how Ellie’s family is so close and have each other’s back through thick and thin. I thought Ellie was awesome and her enthusiasm and personality really kept the hope and upbeat ness of the story. I loved how the author brought in heavy but relevant topics such as the appropriation of Indigenous lands, how various Indigenous tribes were massacred, and etc.
I also loved our side characters; like Pat and Vivian (Ellie’s parents), Jay, and Al and Ronnie. They really helped flesh out the story and gave Ellie the support she needed. Also, the addition of different fantastical beings such as vampires was very cool. I also thought the concept of vampires cannot be in a place when they are uninvited, like Ellie did with one Euro-vampire, very interesting and a subtle way to talk about the usurping of Indigenous lands.
Overall, I think this is a great story and I think anyone who likes middle grade, urban fantasy with a bit of spookiness and also Indigenous representation, this one is it!