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rorikae's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
'Lone Women' by Victor LaValle is an engaging horror novel that focuses on one woman attempting to flee her past by moving east to become a homesteader.
Adelaide sets her childhood home and her parents corpses afire and then leaves for Montana with only a locked steamer trunk. She's determined to leave behind the life that she lived and the past that has plagued her family. But she's brought along a sliver of it in the steamer trunk and as she finally begins to settle into her new life in Montana, what lurks in the steamer trunk begins to grow restless.
LaValle is an expert at slow, character driven horror and he knocks it out of the park in 'Lone Women.' He slowly unravels Adelaide's truth and what is in her steamer trunk while also building our understanding of her character. By the time we learn what is in the trunk, we're fully invested in Adelaide and her desire to create a new life for herself. This story is very much rooted in the characters and the women who are working to create a new life for themselves by homesteading. This cast is fully fledged and easy to care for, especially when set in light of the more monstrous characters that are their foils. In the end, this story highlights how humans are the true monsters.
Adelaide sets her childhood home and her parents corpses afire and then leaves for Montana with only a locked steamer trunk. She's determined to leave behind the life that she lived and the past that has plagued her family. But she's brought along a sliver of it in the steamer trunk and as she finally begins to settle into her new life in Montana, what lurks in the steamer trunk begins to grow restless.
LaValle is an expert at slow, character driven horror and he knocks it out of the park in 'Lone Women.' He slowly unravels Adelaide's truth and what is in her steamer trunk while also building our understanding of her character. By the time we learn what is in the trunk, we're fully invested in Adelaide and her desire to create a new life for herself. This story is very much rooted in the characters and the women who are working to create a new life for themselves by homesteading. This cast is fully fledged and easy to care for, especially when set in light of the more monstrous characters that are their foils. In the end, this story highlights how humans are the true monsters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Violence, and Transphobia
Moderate: Kidnapping and Xenophobia
lauramusich's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
fast-paced
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Transphobia
sarahkorn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
Changed from 4.5 ⭐ to 5 ⭐ because I can't stop thinking about this book.
This book had everything. Lone women. Creepy old timey cowboys. Montana.
This book is atmospheric to the hilt, and a little bit absurd in parts, like David Lynch meets the Montana Hi-line. The whole book felt surreal and ghostly. I went to college in Montana and the small, disappearing towns across the mountains and prairies are chilly reminders of what was once a booming wild west. There's a lot of room for the imagination to run and ghosts to appear.
There were times where the weaving storylines were hard to follow but it didn't take long to catch back on.
This book had everything. Lone women. Creepy old timey cowboys. Montana.
This book is atmospheric to the hilt, and a little bit absurd in parts, like David Lynch meets the Montana Hi-line. The whole book felt surreal and ghostly. I went to college in Montana and the small, disappearing towns across the mountains and prairies are chilly reminders of what was once a booming wild west. There's a lot of room for the imagination to run and ghosts to appear.
There were times where the weaving storylines were hard to follow but it didn't take long to catch back on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Colonisation, Death, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Xenophobia, Murder, Racism, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Gore, Gun violence, and Violence
allapaz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
You know how in some books, the beginning is kind of slow, but then as things get revealed the pace picks up and you can't help but get sucked in? This was like the opposite of that.
I think it was just me. Reading the other reviews and discussions of this book, maybe this just isn't my genre. I do think this was overhyped and the reviews calling this 'Jordan Peele-esque' are misleading. you have to be into a bit of the absurd to get into this, and something I learned about myself is I am definitely not. There were about 5 different stories going at the same time here, and not in a good way. I had a real tough time with this one, honestly I read it so fast because I wanted to be able to move on from it.
I think it was just me. Reading the other reviews and discussions of this book, maybe this just isn't my genre. I do think this was overhyped and the reviews calling this 'Jordan Peele-esque' are misleading. you have to be into a bit of the absurd to get into this, and something I learned about myself is I am definitely not. There were about 5 different stories going at the same time here, and not in a good way. I had a real tough time with this one, honestly I read it so fast because I wanted to be able to move on from it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Racism
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