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jackyobrien6's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
chuckri's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
cetasmom's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
lauraellis's review against another edition
fast-paced
4.5
Very good.. powerful and moving. Although author is white, she has done research on African-American history. Yay
sbnich's review against another edition
3.0
The story, a fictionalized portrayal of a freed slave joining the US Army as a man in the Buffalo Soldiers, was nimble and compelling. At the same time, the overall narrative fell flat. Many of the scenes were bloated with minor details, and the major themes - betrayal, incompetence, and loss, got lost in minutiae.
Worth a read, but a lack of deep substance left unexamined, keeps it from being brilliant.
Worth a read, but a lack of deep substance left unexamined, keeps it from being brilliant.
mandyb_75's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this one. I almost put it down, but thought I’d give it another day, and I’m glad I did. I learned another piece of history that I otherwise wouldn’t have known.
missmelissarae's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
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? No
5.0
I’m a white woman and a veteran. This woman — who is real and actually served— inspired me beyond words, honestly. The complexity she holds in her service is unlike most people today. I recommend this book to everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Racism
I was looking for something uplifting during a time of depression. Cathy Williams is my personal hero now.i_hype_romance's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 ⭐️
The buildup in this story was slow. But once I reached Cathy's induction into Sheridan's troops, I couldn't put it down.
This was a unique glimpse into an authentic part of the Wild West seldom discussed or acknowledged. The fact that Cathy's story was largely undocumented and had to be pieced together based on oblique references scattered through the historical record, is a testament to Bird's tenacity.
Highly recommend as a gritty portrayal of the dangers women faced on the frontier, and the snapshot of a woman who should be part of every secondary history curriculum.
The buildup in this story was slow. But once I reached Cathy's induction into Sheridan's troops, I couldn't put it down.
This was a unique glimpse into an authentic part of the Wild West seldom discussed or acknowledged. The fact that Cathy's story was largely undocumented and had to be pieced together based on oblique references scattered through the historical record, is a testament to Bird's tenacity.
Highly recommend as a gritty portrayal of the dangers women faced on the frontier, and the snapshot of a woman who should be part of every secondary history curriculum.
see_sadie_read's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I want to start out with praising Bahni Turpin for her narration. Historical fiction isn't a genre I gravitate toward and I don't know if I'd have made it through this one without Turpin's reading of it.
Next, I want to warn that there is a spoiler in this review. In fact, I should just get it out of the way. SPOILER: Bird does not give these characters their happy ending! Hopeful, I might call it (if 20 years too late), but not happy. I get that Bird may have been constrained by historical fact, but I was still hugely disappointed by this. (And there are so few details available about Cathy that I have to wonder if Bird couldn't have made it work if she really wanted to.)
Beyond that I appreciated the beautiful use of language (having the audio version really helped with this). And I thought Bird really highlighted some aspects of slave life that gets glossed over in a lot of fiction. For example, when everyone was up in arms over a white girls being kidnapped by Indians and a free slave asking, Who hasn't seen worse done to our by a Master? Or when a black soldier was speaking passionately about not wanting a white woman (as all white men seem to assume he does), but a black woman. These were moments that touched me and felt real.
A caveat: Maybe it is a simple reality of writing race, but I was never able to allow myself to forget that Bird is white. So, beautiful as these scenes might be, there was always a grain of "It feels right, but I'm white and she's white, maybe it only feels right to us who have never faced this head on. I hope that's not the case, but..." Certainly I've seen other reviewers take issue with some aspects of the representation. And there were definitely whiffs of Cathy being better than other slaves, which is problematic in the same way writing a female character that is somehow 'different' and 'special' and 'better' than 'those other girls' is inherently anti-female in general. So, I leave open that there may be problematic aspects I didn't highlight.
I did think the story repeated itself at times and dragged a bit through the middle. There were a few "too coincidental to be believed" moments (the prostitute scene, for example) and I just can't accept the ending. It looped around and gave Cathy something she'd wanted early on and left the possibility of happiness in the future. But that wasn't enough to really satisfy me. All in all, however, I liked it well enough.
I want to start out with praising Bahni Turpin for her narration. Historical fiction isn't a genre I gravitate toward and I don't know if I'd have made it through this one without Turpin's reading of it.
Next, I want to warn that there is a spoiler in this review. In fact, I should just get it out of the way. SPOILER: Bird does not give these characters their happy ending! Hopeful, I might call it (if 20 years too late), but not happy. I get that Bird may have been constrained by historical fact, but I was still hugely disappointed by this. (And there are so few details available about Cathy that I have to wonder if Bird couldn't have made it work if she really wanted to.)
Beyond that I appreciated the beautiful use of language (having the audio version really helped with this). And I thought Bird really highlighted some aspects of slave life that gets glossed over in a lot of fiction. For example, when everyone was up in arms over a white girls being kidnapped by Indians and a free slave asking, Who hasn't seen worse done to our by a Master? Or when a black soldier was speaking passionately about not wanting a white woman (as all white men seem to assume he does), but a black woman. These were moments that touched me and felt real.
A caveat: Maybe it is a simple reality of writing race, but I was never able to allow myself to forget that Bird is white. So, beautiful as these scenes might be, there was always a grain of "It feels right, but I'm white and she's white, maybe it only feels right to us who have never faced this head on. I hope that's not the case, but..." Certainly I've seen other reviewers take issue with some aspects of the representation. And there were definitely whiffs of Cathy being better than other slaves, which is problematic in the same way writing a female character that is somehow 'different' and 'special' and 'better' than 'those other girls' is inherently anti-female in general. So, I leave open that there may be problematic aspects I didn't highlight.
I did think the story repeated itself at times and dragged a bit through the middle. There were a few "too coincidental to be believed" moments (the prostitute scene, for example) and I just can't accept the ending. It looped around and gave Cathy something she'd wanted early on and left the possibility of happiness in the future. But that wasn't enough to really satisfy me. All in all, however, I liked it well enough.