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A review by jassmine
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
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