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rachealcroucher's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Infertility, Sexism, Biphobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Abortion, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Body shaming, Death, and Emotional abuse
lovejasmine's review against another edition
- 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
sbaryluk's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Infertility
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Sexual violence, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, and Suicide attempt
hmatt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Storytelling
I feel like the author was trying to fit too many events into too short of a narrative. This might have been okay, but there were so many minor events that I think we should have spent less time on, and a number of climactic events that we spent barely any time on whatsoever. A lot of these major events "fade to black" as soon as the action starts, and then we are caught up on what happened in retrospect later on - I was REALLY not a fan of this technique, and I don't think it made sense for the "western" genre.
Character-building
We do get a lot of information on most of the characters but, again, it's almost too much for how short of a book it is. What we lose out on, in my opinion, is a more profound emotional connection with the main character. We don't really dwell on her losses or feel them with her, which is extra strange given the whole novel is told in first-person.
TL;DR
The idea behind the novel is fantastic, but it tries to fit too much in. The concepts it seeks to explore are really only half-fleshed-out and the characters are hard to relate to, simply because the plot moves on too fast to hold space for these introspections.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Medical content, Infidelity, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Violence, Murder, Infertility, Sexual violence, Racism, Police brutality, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Torture, Sexism, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Miscarriage, and Mental illness
Moderate: Rape, Confinement, Transphobia, Classism, Gore, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death and Drug abuse
CWs non-exhaustiveabookandaspotoftea's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Self harm, Abortion, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Infidelity
nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
2.25
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.
Graphic: Infertility, Sexual content, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical content, Infidelity, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, and Abortion
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
deezy's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Police brutality, Murder, Miscarriage, and Mental illness
naturemamareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual content
hollyenchanted's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Minor: Abortion, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Medical trauma, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual content
The world North created is brutal and all-to-recognizable. Which makes the outlaws all the more heroic and interesting.