The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: Warrior Girl, Unearthed
Author: Angeline Boulley
Published: 2023
Genre: YA, Thriller
Themes: Colonialism, Reparations

One sentence summary: On working in the town’s museum, Perry meets Warrior Girl, an unidentified set of bones that belongs back with her people and not in a private collection.

One sentence review: There aren’t enough words in the world to tell you how much I love Boulley’s writing.

Review:

Warrior Girl Unearthed picks up some time after FKD and follows our slightly rebellious but good hearted Perry. In order to pay back her Aunt for the damage to her car that may or may not have been caused by a teensy bit of speeding, Perry finds herself working for town oddball Cooper in the towns museum. Cooper is working with collections in order to get reparations and return Ojibwe artefacts back to their rightful place on Sugar Island.

It’s during her work with Cooper that Perry meets Warrior Girl, an unidentified set of bones that belongs back with her people and not in a private collection. And well, let’s just say you’ll have to read it to find out just what Perry does about that, I promise you it’s devious and brilliant.

There aren’t enough words in the world to tell you how much I love Boulley’s writing. Firekeeper’s Daughter was her incredible debut and Warrior Girl Unearthed is her next. Both books had me HOOKED.

The story takes delicious twists and turns to keep you guessing and will have you holding your breath as the action steps it up in the final third. With such important issues such as reparations, stolen ancestors and MMIWG2S, this book is going to teach you so much too.

Boulley’s writing immerses you into Perry’s chaotic summer of growth and it’s such a delightful journey you’re taken on. She has such a wonderful writing style that grips, teaches and delights in equal parts.

Both Daunis (FKD) and Perry are absolute warriors of women, women who I aspire to be like even at this age. They are true feminist icons.

I can’t recommend this book enough. If you love YA, a good crime/thriller with incredible indigenous settings then get this on order right now, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

If you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here.

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And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 05/02/2025