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mblanke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Police brutality
jcinf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I love that it takes the narrative of oppression and twists it into one of empowerment. I love the angle of “chosen family” being set in the desert, segregated from society both by choice and by necessity. I love the idea of “outlaws” and “outcasts” being one in the same. Because outcasts are viewed as outlaws — as scapegoats to make them criminals.
The characters are easy to love. The book is the perfect length.
I love the subtle inclusion of queer characters. From trans to gay to bisexual. And yet this is mentioned without it being a big deal. There are no big moments of “coming out.” It’s just matter-of-fact.
I give books 5 stars based on how memorable it is for me. So time will tell if I come back and change my rating to a 5.
Graphic: Blood, Infertility, Racism, Medical content, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexism, Death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder
chasingpages1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Blood, Mental illness, Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Infertility, Gun violence, Misogyny, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Cancer, Outing, and Gaslighting
moonvest's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
This is objectively a good book, but it was just more yucky than what I can handle right now. I was promised “lesbian cowboys” but it’s largely about child death and grief. Which is, you know, a trigger for me.
You’d probably like it though.
Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abortion, Death, Grief, Incest, and Infertility
Minor: Animal death
raquel_rqlh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Medical content, Transphobia, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence
aubreystrawberry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Homophobia, and Infertility
Moderate: Medical content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Abortion, Blood, Mental illness, and Miscarriage
Minor: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Grief
lovejasmine's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Instead, we got the barest hint of that, with a very self centred, very white narrator that was, honestly, kind of boring.
The worst thing about this book was it wasn't bad. It just could have been incredible.
Graphic: Child death, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Incest, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Abortion, Blood, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Sexual violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Animal death, and Chronic illness
taylorgraves555's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
wizardingwisteria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
The world in combination with the writing style and plot made this such an enjoyable read for me. At first the writing style seemed meandering and slow, but as the story began to pick up I started to appreciate Ada's perspective a lot more. The plot kept me entertained from start to finish. I loved seeing the gang execute their plans in such an organized fashion. It reminded me so much of Red Dead Redemption with the leader of the gang, the Kid, giving me flash backs to Dutch van der Linde at some points
Loved all of the representation in this book, but it could have been improved. The main character is cis and hetero but almost every member of the gang is gay and/or non-binary. There is a moment where one gang member asks Ada if she likes men and Ada considers the fact that she never saw women as an option for her. She basically shrugs and thinks to herself "maybe I like women, idk, haven't tried." Beyond that thought Ada doesn't attempt to explore her own sexuality further. I think that was a missed opportunity
A lot of the characters felt underdeveloped. Even though this book is on the shorter side, I found myself wishing that the author took more time to make the characters, the gang members specifically, more complex instead of giving them a paragraph or two of backstory and then putting them on the shelf. Ada's love interest ended up feeling flat as well which made their relationship more difficult to believe
Despite it's issues, I could see myself re-reading this in the future
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Infertility, Animal death, Grief, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Pandemic/Epidemic
raemcma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Abortion, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Infertility and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Abortion, Miscarriage, and Racism