Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Die Gesetzlose by Anna North

140 reviews

eve_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Overall Thoughts:
⁕ My favorite things about this book are how diverse the cast of female characters are and how the historical/events practices in it are viewed through a more critical social justice lens.
⁕ The plot meandered and felt very slow. It didn’t seem like the story was really going anywhere until the last 3rd of the book.
⁕ There are 2-3 important scenes that the narrator skips over and then explains passively after the action occurred. This had the effect of taking the punch and excitement out of the story for me.
⁕ This book is PACKED with descriptions of scenery and nature. To each their own, but I got kinda bored with it.

To read my full review, visit: https://evereads681579800.wordpress.com
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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Child death and Miscarriage

Additional Content Warnings: childbirth, genital mutilation

taylordmccabe's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

The premise of the book is about a society in which women unable to conceive are executed as witches; context is in an alternate US Western. Also there are multiple references to an epidemic that occurred before the beginning of the book.

kingweirdo's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

It's actually every bit as good as "a feminist western about reproductive rights and gender" sounds.

It also really worked for me, since the enigmatic third-person hero and leader is a bipolar, nonbinary person (not that the book uses those words) and the story is set in the Powder River Basin.

... I'm a bipolar nonbinary person who was born in the Powder River Basin. 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Blood, and Medical content

gabibrose's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

A fiercely feminist, action-packed Western was something I didn’t know I needed until I read Anna North’s Outlawed. Set in an alternate America in the year 1894, our teenage heroine Ada is forced to flee the safety of home when she is unable to become pregnant after a year of marriage. In Outlawed’s reality, women are prided in society for their ability to bear children and hanged as witches if they prove to be barren. Ada finds solace by joining the infamous Hole in the Wall Gang - a group of outlaws pillaging their way across the land. Led by an enigmatic, nonbinary figure known as the Kid, the gang is compiled of women who, like Ada, were ousted from their communities due to their inability to conform to societal standards. The diverse band of outlaws features gender nonconforming and queer characters who aim to upheave and dismantle the patriarchy and fight for an equitable existence. 

North draws on the themes of race, relationship to religion, fertility, and gender roles/identity to craft a fully realized dystopian society. The pacing of the novel is quick and brimming with action that forces readers to continue turning the pages to find out which direction the plot will turn. If anything, I wish we could have spent more time getting to know the individual members of the gang, some of whom tended to blend together due to their similar backstories and quirks. As a whole, North’s clever ingenuity churns out a modern-day tale built on the foundation of a historical setting that feels both familiar and uniquely singular all at once. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

amelew's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child death

sarahkate22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Infertility, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Transphobia, and Violence

katherinenzr's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

 

Outlawed is a fast-pace alternative western perfect for fans of Upright Women Wanted. Set in a world where sickness ravaged the United States in the late 1700’s, killing much of the population and making reproduction almost sacred, Ada flees from her hometown, to a convent, and eventually to the Hole in the Wall gang after being accused of witchcraft for her barrenness. I do wish this book had spent a little more time on character development, as it felt like I never really got to know any of the characters, and so I wasn’t worried for their safety or upset when they got hurt. <spoilers> It also frustrated me that not a single thing went right in the whole book --sure, show me that she’s not a perfect outlaw from the beginning or have a heist go wrong for dramatic effect, but you have to give me at least an interlude of things being good in order for me to care! </spoilers>

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Miscarriage and Rape

acarter's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

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

5.0

This book RULED. A snappy, smart look at sex, gender, fertility, race, legality, and so much more. I’ll be thinking about this one for many years to come!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Incest

adriennne's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Slavery

thenovellife's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

After reading Outlawed, to say I'm thankful to not be living in the 1894 West would be quite the understatement. We begin Outlawed with young Ada's marriage and subsequent turning out of her husband's home due to her inability to get pregnant. 

Knowing the last female in her town that could not/did not conceive was accused of witchcraft and hanged, Ada has very few choices of where to turn. While growing up she trained with her mother to take over the midwife business, but that's no longer an option. Her heart is in medicine and helping others, which makes it all the more tragic that she's unable to continue down her planned path.

Where to turn?

Am I thankful to be living in 2021 America. I cannot fathom the idiocy nor the hoops women had to jump through in the late 1800s just to live. It enrages me. I thought not being paid enough as a man was pretty enraging...being accused of witchcraft and threatened with the stockade or hanging because I can't have children is insane.

This book makes you think. 
There are underlying themes of religion - " Is religion a vehicle for good or an
excuse for punishment?"
Themes of family and who IS family - the one who turns you out or the one who takes you in when no one else will.
Themes of mental illness, gender, sexuality, insane townspeople believing their neighbors could be a witch because children were dying from the flu and other craziness. Outlawed would make an excellent book club selection - so many themes to discuss - the religion question can keep you talking for hours alone!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Religious bigotry