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3.57 AVERAGE

slow-paced
adventurous dark funny reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character

Not as good as reviews said it would be.
adventurous dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Knockoff. Really kind of awkward writing here. Read the whole thing though.

3.5/5 rounded down; I really, really liked parts of this (the violence and the railroad, revenge, the vivid imagery, and what it is to share ties in such a harsh landscape), and other parts I feel like I didn't fully get (some of the supernatural elements and whether Ada's father was supposed to be part of the Combine--should there have been even more historical detail?).
adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was/is a great book. I enjoyed the reimagined western, with the Chinese American historic connotations. The mystic aspects aren't overdone, save for into the story really well. The characters are diverse and they actually contribute to the story in a meaningful way. I hope this becomes a movie, because like Sisters Brothers, the imagery makes me think it would be a visual success.
adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I wanted to like this book more. There are a lot of great moments and Tom Lin is undeniably talented as a writer. Unfortunately I felt wholly disconnected from the cast of side characters and their sort of magical realism powers. I enjoyed the straightforwardness of the revenge plot but about halfway through we get bogged down in mysterious, admittedly not terrible, side characters whom, to me, felt out of place in terms of the larger main plot. 
The story has a great ending, if a little predictable.