Take a photo of a barcode or cover
I really liked this book. It absolutely refuses to be classified or categorized.
Is it Horror? Yes, and then again no. There are some subtle, horror aspects to the story, but not much.
Is it a western? Yes..... but then again no. There are some weird western aspects to it, but only some.
There is magic, but is there really? I'm still not sure.
What I do know is it is a heck of an adventure. From the moment our protagonist falls into her death-like coma, and her maid telegraphs James Moxie there is excitement and adventure up and down "The Trail."
I would like to talk about "The Trail." This story is obviously set in an alternate reality. It appears to be set in what would be equivalent to our early 1800's. It is funny that I don't remember any talk of trains or dirigibles or any of that sort of steam punk paraphernalia. But there is a man named Smoke with metal legs the seems to be operated with oil in some mechanism. Smoke felt steampunk to me, but this is also not a steampunk novel. Anyway, I digress. The Trail itself is a character and there seems to be something a little mystical about it. The world building is very good as far as it goes.
I would very much like to read more stories about 'The Trail."
Is it Horror? Yes, and then again no. There are some subtle, horror aspects to the story, but not much.
Is it a western? Yes..... but then again no. There are some weird western aspects to it, but only some.
There is magic, but is there really? I'm still not sure.
What I do know is it is a heck of an adventure. From the moment our protagonist falls into her death-like coma, and her maid telegraphs James Moxie there is excitement and adventure up and down "The Trail."
I would like to talk about "The Trail." This story is obviously set in an alternate reality. It appears to be set in what would be equivalent to our early 1800's. It is funny that I don't remember any talk of trains or dirigibles or any of that sort of steam punk paraphernalia. But there is a man named Smoke with metal legs the seems to be operated with oil in some mechanism. Smoke felt steampunk to me, but this is also not a steampunk novel. Anyway, I digress. The Trail itself is a character and there seems to be something a little mystical about it. The world building is very good as far as it goes.
I would very much like to read more stories about 'The Trail."
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a disappointment. It took me days to slog through the first 200 pages and then I only skimmed the second half of the book because it was so dull. There were too many POVs, most of them just follow each other (someone follows Smoke who follows Moxie who tries to reach Carol) and their every step is described in minute detail (all the action in one chapter could usually be summarized by the lame chapter titles, such as "Dwight visits Lafayette again" or "Smoke sleeps, too"). I didn't really care about any of the characters and considering that the title and the summary hint at this book being about Carol, it actually focuses mostly on the men in her life and what they are up to. Also, none of the characters have any depths to them, they were just plain good or evil. The beginning and the ending try to create something unique, showing the potential of the idea behind the book, but instead everything seems unnecessarily confusing and stands in stark contrast to the linear (i.e. boring) progression of the plot in the middle of the story.
Maybe you'll enjoy this if you're really into Westerns, but apart from that I would urge you to read the author's Bird Box instead.
Maybe you'll enjoy this if you're really into Westerns, but apart from that I would urge you to read the author's Bird Box instead.
3.5 stars, I rounded up.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
Westerns aren't normally my thing, but the idea of a person kinda-sorta dying (Carol enters a coma-like state for a few days before waking back up) repeatedly got me interested. Thankfully, Malerman has a fine way with words, or else I would've given up. Most of the book is not about Carol. Rather, the focus is on her husband Dwight, who is trying to bury her, her ex-lover and famed outlaw James, who is riding his old horse as fast as possible to save Carol, and Smoke, the nasty assassin hired to take out James.
All of those men, and Carol as well, exhibit some mental instability, ranging from mild to wow-you've-totally-lost-touch-with-reality. I didn't expect that, nor did I expect this to be used as a plot device to stall the character's progress.
Despite all the weirdness and my expectations being thrown, I enjoyed the book. Reading the same old fluff gets tiresome, and this was certainly different. I'll recommend my library to purchase it.
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
Westerns aren't normally my thing, but the idea of a person kinda-sorta dying (Carol enters a coma-like state for a few days before waking back up) repeatedly got me interested. Thankfully, Malerman has a fine way with words, or else I would've given up. Most of the book is not about Carol. Rather, the focus is on her husband Dwight, who is trying to bury her, her ex-lover and famed outlaw James, who is riding his old horse as fast as possible to save Carol, and Smoke, the nasty assassin hired to take out James.
All of those men, and Carol as well, exhibit some mental instability, ranging from mild to wow-you've-totally-lost-touch-with-reality. I didn't expect that, nor did I expect this to be used as a plot device to stall the character's progress.
Despite all the weirdness and my expectations being thrown, I enjoyed the book. Reading the same old fluff gets tiresome, and this was certainly different. I'll recommend my library to purchase it.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Fazla durgun ve yazar sürekli olarak gizem yazmaya çalışırken asıl anlatıdan kopup durmuş. Ben diğee kitaplarından daha çok hoşlanmıştım (kırmızı piyano hariç). Ablam bu kitabı bitiremedi bile ve aylarca bu kitaptaki durgunluktan ekine başka kitap alıp okuyamadı.
I just could not get into the story or care about the characters