Elatsoe (Elatsoe, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Feb 09, 2021 Crowinator rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-mystery, ya, genre-fantasy, folklore-myths-legends, genre-contemporary, real-world-fantasy, queer, vamps-and-or-werewolves, ghosts-and-hauntings, magic-people

I loved this book. I got to read it as a part of my teen librarian group's Tournament of Books, and for those interested, here's the link to the review of it, pitted again another excellent YA novel, The Extraordinaries by one of my personal favorite authors, TJ Klune. (Some spoilers for both books in the discussion.)

https://yasfnews.wordpress.com/2021/0... ...more

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Nov 23, 2020 Jess rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020

I need a companion book about Ellie’s life in the future!! And more about this reality.

I’m curious to know what book everyone else was reading when they described ELATSOE as a whimsical, sweet read 😂 When I read this, I was getting Cherie Dimaline (EMPIRE OF WILD), Taylor Kay Mejia (PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE RIVER OF TEARS), and Riley Sager (LOCK EVERY DOOR) vibes. For the TV and movie crowd, I also thought about Midsommar, Watchmen, and Get Out.

I call this one a crossover book for two reasons: it ...more

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Feb 21, 2021 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, paranormal, feminist, diversity, indigenous, lgbtqia-gender, 2020-reading-challenges

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger was one of my favorite reads of 2020. I checked it out from my library on impulse, and wasn't expecting to love it so much, but I did. It brought me back to the wonder of reading books like Harry Potter for the first time, the immersion in a world both familiar and yet magically different, the tight-knit friendships. the struggle against a malevolent enemy--and you get all this in a book WITHOUT any transmisogyny or anti-Semitism or other problematic subtexts. Ins Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger was one of my favorite reads of 2020. I checked it out from my library on impulse, and wasn't expecting to love it so much, but I did. It brought me back to the wonder of reading books like Harry Potter for the first time, the immersion in a world both familiar and yet magically different, the tight-knit friendships. the struggle against a malevolent enemy--and you get all this in a book WITHOUT any transmisogyny or anti-Semitism or other problematic subtexts. Instead, you get a charming paranormal YA story, starring an ace (asexual) Lipan Apache girl whose magical gift involves raising dead animals, and her best friend, a blonde vegetarian cheerleading straight boy, and Elatsoe's loyal ghost doggo. You get rich Apache lore and Indigenous culture and also vampires and other European magics. A magical system that is both wondrous and yet logical and realistically limited (like how using the magical fungi rings, while incredibly easy for travel, also bears an environmental cost) and often dangerous. There are scary human ghosts and creepy all white towns and tales of heroic Indigenous women and eerily beautiful undead natural/ animal worlds.

Yet through it all, you get love. Not romantic love. Elatsoe, or Ellie, is ace, as mentioned before, and her close friendship with Jay seems pretty solidly platonic. This lack of romantic focus turned out to be refreshing, though, allowing the focus to remain on the main story, grappling with grief while using means magical and otherwise to investigate the suspiciously sudden and tragic death of Ellie's cousin, a young man with a wife and small child. You also get intense familial love. Ellie and her parents have one of the most refreshingly health parent/child relationships I've read depicted in a book. None of them are perfect, but they are loving and supportive and honest. They communicate, and set reasonable rules and boundaries. Ellie's parents trust her and support her and value her abilities, and she is not alone in her investigation, with both Jay and her parents and extended family's support. Even Jay's family, his sister and his parents and aunt, seem supportive and loving, with healthy relationships.

My only caution for potential readers is that the depictions of grief are real and sad. Ellie's cousin's widow especially is angry and grief-stricken, and as someone who has lost family tragically and unexpectedly, this was an emotional read for me at times. As long as you are aware of that, and prepared, Elatsoe is otherwise a book I recommend without reservation. The diversity is rich and authentic, with strong, smart, kind characters that defy stereotypes in every way.

While reading Elatsoe was an impulse, reading my next Darcie Little Badger book will not be, and I can't wait for her next release. My only regret about reading Elatsoe is that, having read it in the dumpster fire year 2020, I didn't have the energy to review the book until months later, and am afraid I'm forgetting some of the ways in which Elatsoe was a terrific book. I would recommend this for adult and teen readers, and even advanced juvenile readers, as Ellie's lack of sexual interest means that the contents are pretty "clean." And who doesn't love ghost dogs and magic? ...more

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Jun 29, 2021 Kristen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, book-club, ya, aoc, native-american-indigenous, 2021

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Elatsoe “Ellie” is a Lipan Apache who is able to raise the ghosts of dead animals. She comes from a long line of family members with this talent, back to her great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, who her family calls Six Great, also Ellie’s namesake. Ellie’s constant companion is the ghost of her dog, Kirby. When Kirby freaks out, Ellie soon learns ...more

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Feb 16, 2022 Kate rated it really liked it

3.5 Not my typical genre (YA fantasy), read for the Read Harder Challenge, but definitely better than most books I've read in the category (like Ash) and I appreciate the indigenous perspective ...more

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