Reviews with content warning for Medical trauma - Outlawed

Ostensibly set in a mostly-dystopian 1894 Texas town that places a premium on women's ability to bear children and suspects infertile women of witchcraft, this book is narrated by Ada, a seventeen-year-old wife and midwife's apprentice who has been exiled from her community after a year of marriage with no child. Passionate about science and serving women, Ada finds herself in the company of the Hole in the Wall gang, a group of outlawed outsiders with a flexible and fluid approach to gender, love, sex, and justice.

This feminist take on a Western novel, filled with crime, adventure, and challenging authority, was certainly creative, but I was quite the right audience for it. Indeed, I was so distracted by the references to race, doctors, baby Jesus, the Flu and Fever, and the seeming dissolution of the United States that I was almost more focused on trying to figure out whether this was a dystopian alternative history (a Confederate win in the Civil War?) or a dystopian future (post COVID-19?), and I'm honestly still confused.

I also was pretty confused by the role of religion and by all of the characters. There were many, each with a painful background, but none was particularly well-developed, and the sub-plots detracted rather than added to the story. The one exception to this, in my opinion, was Lark's story, which surprised and intrigued me, but he, too, was an underdeveloped character who stuck around too briefly.

I appreciate the reviewer who acknowledged that this book offers a different take on the Hole in the Wall gang. I had no idea that this gang was a real concept and really disappointed that there was no Author's Note explaining that research and that choice (which guess means this is an alt-history novel?).

I picked this up because I needed a quick read to help propel me out of a slump (too many classics in a row/at a time can do that to you), and it was definitely successful in that respect. The story was engaging enough and kept me turning the pages for the few hours that this took to finish, but ultimately, I think Anna North bit off more than she could chew--infertility, religion, feminism, justice, gender fluidity, insomnia, mental health, medicine, mothering, Western adventure--and it really didn't work for me.

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womanwill's review against another edition

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adventurous sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Fun and adventurous to read--I will certainly be keeping an eye out for other feminist westerns. However, the story lacked depth in both character development and world-building. The backstories of the fellow outlaws were lacking. I understand the need to let pieces on information come in slowly, but for some reason the characters all felt like they were at an arm's distance. North also piqued my interest by mentioning a "Flu" that devastated the U.S. but never fully investigated this and its effects on the outlaws, the U.S. and the story. Lastly, for how this novel was pitched in marketing, the idea of queerness, gender-bending, and found family was not nearly investigated well enough. North does nothing but scratch the surface of these topics, potentially causing harm in the process.

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keeley's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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rigbees's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A barren woman flees first to a convent, then to a life as an outlaw in this novel set in the 1890s midwest US. The story that follows is a gripping outlaw tale, filled with disguises, wagon chases, and living life as a wanted criminal sought by multiple towns. It also is a story about a close-knit group of women and trans masc people trying to find identities when they'd been kicked out by towns that raised them. It portrays a complex life that doesn't gloss over the struggles of survival, while also valuing what it means to survive outside the norm.

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shelbo's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I raced through this book. It has so many compelling themes (alternate history, religious extremism, feminist take on classic Westerns) and really interesting characters who bring the themes to life. Really enjoyed it overall, but the ending felt a little too hastily wrapped up to me.

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remilymartin's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a really fun read. I didn't love the very ending, because it wasn't how I wanted it to end, but it was more than appropriate, and honestly if it hadn't have ended that way it would have just been a giant loose end, I suppose. I never thought I would read a feminist, queer western that takes place in an altered past, but I really enjoyed it.

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d_stone's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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kissmyash0600's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring lighthearted sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I'm so split on this book - I liked the story, but I felt like it developed too slow and for too long. The climax was in the last 75 pages of the book, it seemed, and then it ended. It's quite a commentary on how women end up being blamed for so many things and shoulder the burden of the gender stereotype. Even today, when a woman fails to get pregnant, their fertility is looked at with such scrutiny. Our reproductive system and various issues that we have are barely understood and instead of a real effort to better understand these issues, we instead have to see several doctors and sometimes wait years to get a true diagnosis. This book is empowering to those who face gender stereotypes head on, as well as those who have been made to felt less than for not being able to fulfill expectations.

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