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cheye13's review against another edition
- 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
That being said, I don't think western stories are really for me? There's always such a deep pain and/or hopelessness within them that never seems to hit my catharsis button. This one came very close with each of the outlaw's backstories, but the ultimate plot just left me with, "Well. Okay."
This was definitely my favorite western I've ever read, though. Leagues above.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, and Infertility
Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, Blood, Abortion, Confinement, Miscarriage, and Homophobia
Minor: Ableism, Rape, Alcohol, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
ableism wrt: implied bipolar disorder (or perhaps other psychosis), implied post partum depression medical/injury content wrt: gunshot wounds, childbirth & miscarriage, castration, hypothermia, various illnessesazalia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Death, Racism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Homophobia, Self harm, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Addiction, Gun violence, and Hate crime
seawarrior's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Ada is an interesting protagonist in many ways. She straddles the line between adolescence and adulthood, expertise and inexperience, wisdom and ignorance. Her mother's teachings have left her with adequate skills to practice medicine, but not much else. Once joining the Hole In the Wall Gang she shows poor judgement as a thief and as a peer, by making ignorant and insensitive remarks that strike a nerve with those whose life experience she's has yet to understand. Ada's shortcomings are not excused by the narrative or unrealistically healed by it, instead we're allowed to see both her perspective and those of the Gang members who are upset with her to form our own judgement that may differ from Ada's.
Throughout the book we are introduced to a number of characters who like Ada, have been discarded by society. Most of these characters are also infertile women, who found themselves in similar predicaments to Ada and had little other choice but to become outlaws afterward. I appreciated how even despicable acts such as killing were routinely told with empathy towards both the victim and the perpetrator. Within the world of Outlawed, violence is neither random nor justified, but understood as initiatives inflicted by the desperate or the powerful when one either has too much influence or not enough. The Hole in the Wall Gang reasons away their crimes because they have to in order to live with themselves, and because they feel that their victims are one face among many who would laugh as their lives were taken. Yet their violence is often more horrifying than it is grandiose, and always understood as a last resort effort for survival.
Though I read this book slowly I felt that North's writing style was effortlessly engaging and almost magical. Through Ada's eyes we see the beauty of human life and the environments that sustain it, both natural and man-made. Yet we are also made to feel the weight of the many tragedies she has witnessed, survived and inflicted. When Ada first ventures to find the Hole in the Wall Gang the tales she hears of their exploits are larger than life, and when she leaves them they are even more so. Within that time she learns that each of their members are only human and therefore flawed, with this possibly applying to the Kid most of all. The most powerful theme in this novel is how life goes on even after immense tragedy, and how we may find purpose in its midst.
Ada's purpose as a healer and her resolve that her knowledge is needed by the world at large is a striking motivation that propels her story forward and opens a well of emotion whenever her life is threatened. In these times North packs a punch by describing her grief towards her past and her possible future, with both realities linked by the medical and social wisdom her mother passed onto her. We come to accept as Ada does that on her survival hinges the lives of countless other infertile women who need an answer to their plight that will make the proponent theories of witchcraft and "race mixing" a thing of the past. Yet before she can achieve this dream Ada must learn through her failures while never giving up on herself, knowing she will one day find vengeance through the healing of others.
Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, Self harm, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Murder, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Infidelity, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Racism
Moderate: Incest, Sexual content, and Transphobia
ekmook's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexism
Moderate: Racism
taylahmay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion and Miscarriage
readwithchar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Grief and Misogyny
amandalorianxo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
more complicated than that and despite this book being less than 300 pages, this is one of the few times where I felt the book could have been longer to even out the pacing. I definitely felt Salem Witch Trial vibes but I think the author wanted to do a lot in a short time frame - it felt confusing towards the middle. Ada’s growth as a person was on the right track but I wish there had been enough attention on the other group’s character development as well.
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Racism, Pregnancy, Outing, Misogyny, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Grief, Death, and Abandonment
hannahr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Pregnancy, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Animal death and Grief
emsim's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infertility, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Violence, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Infertility, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Abortion, and Ableism
internationalreads's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Violence