Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Outlawed by Anna North

5 reviews

jcinf's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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

Such a fun book. Action packed, but also sad. Commentary on the treatment of women, black people, and LGBTQ people in history — with a particular focus on the hardships of being an infertile woman. 

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infertility, Racism, Medical content, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexism, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Murder

carlylame's review

adventurous funny medium-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? Yes

3.0

eh 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Racism, and Racial slurs

nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition

2.25

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

naturemamareads's review

informative reflective slow-paced

• 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

Yeah.... this just isn’t the action packed queer adventure everyone is screaming about. The characters are ambiguously queer until more than half way through. It’s not bold. It’s not some new feminist manifesto. Just another white feminist book leaving out so many people. It was okay.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Sexual content

randeegleas's review

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Body horror, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence