Reviews with content warning for Gore - Upright Women Wanted

This story is exactly what it says on the tin and tells exactly the story it intends to. I, on the other hand, was hoping it would be a little more than that. It's written decently and the world is tangible. However, if it's meant to be a potential future rather than an alternate past, I would've liked more evidence of that. As it stands, it reminded me a lot of a steampunk western sky pirate lesbian novella I read earlier this year except this didn't have any of the fun gimmicks. A lot of the emotions in this (particularly Esther's feelings about Beatriz) moved too fast for me, even for a novella. I would've liked more subtlety in the romance department and less subtlety in the revolutionary message.

Content Warnings

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I would never normally be interested in reading a Western but since this one involves queer antifascist librarian spies, I was a lot more intrigued. Set in a dystopian near future US which feels more like the past, it follows Esther who's running away from an arranged marriage and whose best friend and secret lover Beatriz was just executed for possessing "unapproved materials". She ends up joining a group of librarians on horses and waggons responsible for delivering approved materials to outposts, but who are actually part of the resistance. It's a fantastic premise and it was an interesting story about identity which I wasn't necessarily expecting. It's under 200 pages so the plot is pretty simple and fast moving but I wanted a bit more from it since the world building was so fascinating. I'm certainly interested in reading more of Gailey's work now.

Content Warnings

phoxyphoenix's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Upright Women Wanted is a hopeful story about finding people like us in unexpected but wonderful places. The best parts of a western in the gaps of the post-apocalypse set against the specter of a vague forever-war. A scrappy novella with a big heart.

I know I love most things I read, but I needed something happy right now and this was just the ticket. It's about people in the gaps, the spaces between what's supposed to happen and the edge of the next set of rules, the next scrutinizing town. It takes the wildness and danger of a Western and gives it a modern framing with a post-apocalyptic flair. Some of the backstories are either implicitly or explicitly filled with some terrible events, but it strikes a balance between showing and telling that leaves the really bad stuff to the imagination. It has a fair amount of blood and death for such an ultimately hopeful book, but the ending was so cathartic and lovely, just what I needed right now.

Content Warnings

More...