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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
Ok DAMN. This is a no holds bar historical fiction centered on America’s Indian War to annihilate Native Americans and conquer the West. The narration is split between three main characters: General George Armstrong Custer who fresh off becoming a Civil War hero leads his armies out West to fight (ie kill) the native tribes, Libbie Bacon, Custer’s naive but dutiful wife and fifteen year old Anne whose entire family is murdered by Native Americans during a raid and is held captive by the tribe. This story does nothing to romanticize this time period and abominations. This was heavy, violent and very well done.
Overall, I enjoyed the story, but frustrated by the execution of said story. The premise of a Western that explores the intricacies of Custer, his wife, and an unknown captive were fascinating. The characters such as Golden Buffalo (even with his few passage) and Anne were exhilarating, well written, and very alive within the pages. Yet the passages that focus on Custer were often bogged down with overly fantastical and almost whimsical descriptions of the landscapes which were frustrating to read through, even if they are a stylistic choice. They towed the line of being overly romantic in choice and Custer's constant thoughtful meanderings on the state of the West, the American Indian, freedom, and the land didn't sit well. He was a difficult character to feel anything towards - even more so as we came closer to the historical inevitable. Same with Libbie - fascinating character, but there was still a removal and as a reader I found it difficult to become emotionally involved in her character, especially as Custer's dalliances and infidelities were so blantant and she plays the part of doting wife. I understand that she is stuck in that role due to the time period and as an officer's wife, but it does leave a distaste. The beginning of the book was slow, dipping the reader immediately into intense violence with Anne and then with Custer during the Civil War. It grew more enjoyable towards the middle as the conflicts, personalities, and events of the story became more robust and the writing clearer, the stakes higher almost and my investment in the story deeper. Then the last 80 pages or so slowed down. I found that Anne's storyline ceased to fit after her 'rescue' and then subsequent imprisonment with her uncle, who was a type of stereotypical zealot but fake Christian that I could do nothing but roll my eyes. Anne puttered out and I was disappointed as her progression was most interesting and heart wrenching of all of them. I wanted her to stay with the Indians. I found I couldn't marry her story line with Libbie/Autie's after her rescue and it jarred me. The book became slightly disjointed after that plot development. The writing is good, strong, and gives a clear description of the freedom of the land before the settlers. It was disappointing that Custer is sometimes painted as this white savior-y character when he waxes poetic about the freedom of the Native Americans and the destruction of their way of life which he acknowledges he plays a part in BUT does nothing to actually prevent.
This book was heartbreak. I was craving a Western and came across The Removes at the library, but I was not prepared for the brutality and violence. It's one thing to read violence in fiction, but this was so real and followed real people in history that it just broke my heart. Just reminded me of all the horrible atrocities that have been committed on this land and the hypocrisy of European settlers. They called them savages, yet they were more savage and under a banner they deemed it righteous.
This books follows George Armstrong Custer, Libbie Custer, and Anne Cummins - while Anne suffered immensely as a captive at age fifteen you also saw the other side of the coin in Custer and the brutalities of war. Everyone hurting each other to make up for the hurt they received.
This books follows George Armstrong Custer, Libbie Custer, and Anne Cummins - while Anne suffered immensely as a captive at age fifteen you also saw the other side of the coin in Custer and the brutalities of war. Everyone hurting each other to make up for the hurt they received.
This was a solid book. I like the dedication to keeping true to history as much as possible. I have never known much about the west in this time and this book opened my eyes to a piece of history that is very prevalent in our nation.
I received this from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.
Fifteen year old Anne survives a surprise attack on her family’s homestead, captured and forced to live with the Cheyenne. Libbie, too, is thrown into a brutal, unexpected life when she marries George Armstrong Custer.
I didn't realize Custer was a Civil War veteran. I liked the fictional story of Anne better than Libbie. It just seemed to flow and read easier than the actual historical happenings of Libbie and Custer.
3.25☆
Fifteen year old Anne survives a surprise attack on her family’s homestead, captured and forced to live with the Cheyenne. Libbie, too, is thrown into a brutal, unexpected life when she marries George Armstrong Custer.
I didn't realize Custer was a Civil War veteran. I liked the fictional story of Anne better than Libbie. It just seemed to flow and read easier than the actual historical happenings of Libbie and Custer.
3.25☆
DNF'd this one - I didn't want to, as I'd heard some really great reviews from folks I trust, but I just couldn't get engaged. I found the character of Anne (the young girl taken captive) to be my favorite, but as the book went on, I felt like I got less and less time with her, with much more attention given to the story line of General Custer and his wife Libby (neither of whom I liked AT ALL).
This is always the risk with dual story lines, and why I don't really like them very much - I always seem to get much more attached to one of the story/set of characters, and the other detracts from my overall enjoyment of the book as a whole.
This is always the risk with dual story lines, and why I don't really like them very much - I always seem to get much more attached to one of the story/set of characters, and the other detracts from my overall enjoyment of the book as a whole.
As the Civil War ends and pioneers set out to conquer the Wild West, the violent clash of cultures is brought to life in alternating points of view from Libbie, wife of George Custer Armstrong, and Anne, whose family was slaughtered and is now a captive of the Cheyenne.
Thank you, NetGalley, Farrah, Straus, and Giroux, and Tatjana Soli for a free advanced copy.
I was so looking forward to this read. But, I am sorry to say it just did not work for me. I am blaming myself as I thought the prose would read differently.
I enjoyed Anne's story so much more than that of Autie and Libbie. There was more time spent in the beginning of the story following Anne's sufferings and life among the Indians, it just wasn't enough for me. The descriptions of frontier life I believe are very accurate, very descriptive and brutally honest. Although, I may have not enjoyed this well written story, I believe others will.
I was so looking forward to this read. But, I am sorry to say it just did not work for me. I am blaming myself as I thought the prose would read differently.
I enjoyed Anne's story so much more than that of Autie and Libbie. There was more time spent in the beginning of the story following Anne's sufferings and life among the Indians, it just wasn't enough for me. The descriptions of frontier life I believe are very accurate, very descriptive and brutally honest. Although, I may have not enjoyed this well written story, I believe others will.
My thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Net Galley for the ebook copy in return for an honest review.
This novel is described as 'expansive' and I would definitely agree with this description. It spans geographically wide expanses, is culturally diverse and expansive and features such different characters in such different situations. This is a credit to the author who handles such widely differing subject matter so deftly.
I have never read anything by Tatjana Soli before but I would be interested in reading other things by her because her ideas and imagination seems fascinating.
I don't know much about US history, so I can't really comment on the accuracy of this novel, but I did enjoy being able to learn more about General Custer, a character I only really knew by name beforehand.
The novel is made up of 3 narrative point of views; Anne, Libby and Autie. The narratives are interesting, and they all add different things to the novel, but I sometimes found that the narratives all read quite similarly, and I struggled to tell the characters apart on occasion.
A quick warning that this novel does feature quite a lot of violence, and bloody graphic violence at that, so be aware of this when considering the novel. I didn't find the violence to be too much, but that is very much a personal choice. In addition to the bloody violence, the novel itself is also quite an intense read. It has a lot of hard hitting scenes and features plenty difficult topics, and I found the novel to be way too heavy on occasion.
The other reason I didn't rate the novel any more than 3 stars was that it became tedious and repetitive at times. We spent a lot of time reading about menial moments in the characters lives, which became repetitive and dull, and for this reason the novel fell a bit flat.
Overall I think this is an interesting idea for a novel, but unfortunately the narrative was a tedious and dull read which dampened my enjoyment overall.
This novel is described as 'expansive' and I would definitely agree with this description. It spans geographically wide expanses, is culturally diverse and expansive and features such different characters in such different situations. This is a credit to the author who handles such widely differing subject matter so deftly.
I have never read anything by Tatjana Soli before but I would be interested in reading other things by her because her ideas and imagination seems fascinating.
I don't know much about US history, so I can't really comment on the accuracy of this novel, but I did enjoy being able to learn more about General Custer, a character I only really knew by name beforehand.
The novel is made up of 3 narrative point of views; Anne, Libby and Autie. The narratives are interesting, and they all add different things to the novel, but I sometimes found that the narratives all read quite similarly, and I struggled to tell the characters apart on occasion.
A quick warning that this novel does feature quite a lot of violence, and bloody graphic violence at that, so be aware of this when considering the novel. I didn't find the violence to be too much, but that is very much a personal choice. In addition to the bloody violence, the novel itself is also quite an intense read. It has a lot of hard hitting scenes and features plenty difficult topics, and I found the novel to be way too heavy on occasion.
The other reason I didn't rate the novel any more than 3 stars was that it became tedious and repetitive at times. We spent a lot of time reading about menial moments in the characters lives, which became repetitive and dull, and for this reason the novel fell a bit flat.
Overall I think this is an interesting idea for a novel, but unfortunately the narrative was a tedious and dull read which dampened my enjoyment overall.
4/5 The Removes.
This book uses events from Custer’s life and that of his wife, Libbie, as well as the experiences of Anne, a 15-year old girl captured by Cheyenne in a skirmish between Indians and white settlers, to show conflict in the North American West after the American Civil War.
The writing style is stilted to sound “of the period” and did not disturb me as it did some reviewers. Reviews of this book most often comment on the biographical elements of Custer and his wife, or on the interplay of women’s roles as shown through the experiences of Libbie Custer or white female captives of Indians, I was most interested in the construction of white women as captives and then, once returned “home,” as insane when they do not acculturate into white culture. Anne’s thoughts and actions convey this well, especially in the last quarter of the book.
This book uses events from Custer’s life and that of his wife, Libbie, as well as the experiences of Anne, a 15-year old girl captured by Cheyenne in a skirmish between Indians and white settlers, to show conflict in the North American West after the American Civil War.
The writing style is stilted to sound “of the period” and did not disturb me as it did some reviewers. Reviews of this book most often comment on the biographical elements of Custer and his wife, or on the interplay of women’s roles as shown through the experiences of Libbie Custer or white female captives of Indians, I was most interested in the construction of white women as captives and then, once returned “home,” as insane when they do not acculturate into white culture. Anne’s thoughts and actions convey this well, especially in the last quarter of the book.