Scan barcode
whimsicallymeghan's review against another edition
4.0
Hanalee Denney’s father recently died and she wants answers. Was his death accidental or was it murder? Living in a small town in Oregon, in 1923, where the KKK are very active in the community, she fights with all she has fighting obstacles, mainly her skin colour, to get to the truth. This novel was based on real events and that is what made it haunting. The plot was heart-pounding and frightening. Winters has a great way of writing something so simple-yet have it be terrifying. The reader really felt for the characters; they were bogged down with details, but they were dynamic, diverse and interesting, claiming the hearts of the reader. This novel really opens the reader’s eyes to a lot of the bigotry and hatefulness that spreads throughout our world. Even though this novel takes place in 1923, it’s almost a clear representation of today’s day, and that’s scary in and of itself. Lastly, the addition of the photos she has sprinkled throughout the novel were used well and really put her story into perspective. This was a wonderfully told, yet not always happy story.
bookphile's review against another edition
3.0
This is the case of "it's not you, it's me."
I liked the story itself and the plot and even the characters, but I did not like the writing. I felt that it made the story and plot really choppy.
Nevertheless, I think that this was a fascinating story. Based on Hamlet, but set in Oregon in the early 19oo's when the KKK began establishing their base there. Hanalee is a mixed raced girl whose African-American father was killed by a drunk driver, and her white mother remarries another white man. But when the boy responsible for the accident is released early, and Hanalee's father's ghost begins haunting the town roads, Hanalee learns that the accident wasn't really an accident and someone may have murdered her father... number one suspect: her new step-father.
Winters clearly did her research and she doesn't shy away from the ugly truths of racism, discrimination, eugenics, and homophobia. It was the reality of many people back then and the fact that Winters doesn't try to "cushion" the facts is really great.
I really liked Hanalee - while she was affected by the racism of her town, she still had dreams and aspirations and she was willing to fight and make a difference. She refused to be the victim. Everyone was ... not as well defined and I didn't particularly feel attached or liked any of the characters.
I would have liked the ending to have a little more drawn out - I was just starting to get frightened for Hanalee and her family when suddenly it was all over and it all ended.
Overall, the story is interesting, but I'm not impressed by the writing - at all.
I liked the story itself and the plot and even the characters, but I did not like the writing. I felt that it made the story and plot really choppy.
Nevertheless, I think that this was a fascinating story. Based on Hamlet, but set in Oregon in the early 19oo's when the KKK began establishing their base there. Hanalee is a mixed raced girl whose African-American father was killed by a drunk driver, and her white mother remarries another white man. But when the boy responsible for the accident is released early, and Hanalee's father's ghost begins haunting the town roads, Hanalee learns that the accident wasn't really an accident and someone may have murdered her father... number one suspect: her new step-father.
Winters clearly did her research and she doesn't shy away from the ugly truths of racism, discrimination, eugenics, and homophobia. It was the reality of many people back then and the fact that Winters doesn't try to "cushion" the facts is really great.
I really liked Hanalee - while she was affected by the racism of her town, she still had dreams and aspirations and she was willing to fight and make a difference. She refused to be the victim. Everyone was ... not as well defined and I didn't particularly feel attached or liked any of the characters.
I would have liked the ending to have a little more drawn out - I was just starting to get frightened for Hanalee and her family when suddenly it was all over and it all ended.
Overall, the story is interesting, but I'm not impressed by the writing - at all.
carmensutra's review against another edition
4.0
Cat Winters does it again--a well-researched historical fiction of the Klan operating in 1923 Oregon. A gender-swapped and feminist Hamlet. Beautiful and hopeful, Hanalee is a dream female lead. The town is menacing. The themes are hopeful.
lostinmylibrary's review against another edition
5.0
This review can also be found at Lost in My Library.
I love it when I finish a book in a day. Not just the times when I have enough hours in the day to read an entire book, but when a book sucks me in so completely that I can't imagine taking any longer than a day to finish it. And I especially love when those books take me by surprise. This was one of those books.
I was absolutely sold on this book from the minute I read the synopsis. A book inspired by Hamlet set in 1920s Oregon with a biracial female protagonist? Count me in! And then I got even more excited after I read Cat Winters's previous YA book, The Cure for Dreaming, and it was amazing.
One of the first things I loved about this book is that it makes so many references to Hamlet, and yet it was definitely its own story. A lot of the names were similar - Hannalee for Hamlet, Laurence for Laertes, Gerta for Gertrude. Fleur (Ophelia) knows a lot about the purposes of flowers and plants. Hannalee talks to the ghost of her father. And yet the character's aren't always subject to the same fates. The characters who were Hamlet's friends were sometimes replaced with Hannalee's enemies, and vice versa. And instead of the ghost of Hamlet's father urging a reluctant Hamlet to avenge him, the ghost of Hannalee's father is shocked and tries to restrain a vengeance-bound Hannalee.
After a while, this book almost entirely departs from the Hamlet plotline. Things were not what they appeared, and neither were people. A conflict that starts almost entirely within one family ends up with discussions of some of the darkest parts of Oregon history - prejudice, the Ku Klux Klan, and the eugenics movement. I learned a lot that I'm ashamed to say that I had no idea about before reading this. And these issues are not treated lightly - the book confronts the reader with how wrong things are head-on, and doesn't shy away from descriptions.
But the content alone isn't what made this book so incredible. The content may be powerful, but it's the writing that makes it really shine. I would have been moved by all of the things that I'd learned even if they were only written halfway decently. But the way these things were written moved me so deeply that I know I won't stop thinking about this book for a while.
The ending was some of the most beautiful writing in the book. So satisfying, so inspiring, and so hopeful.
I love it when I finish a book in a day. Not just the times when I have enough hours in the day to read an entire book, but when a book sucks me in so completely that I can't imagine taking any longer than a day to finish it. And I especially love when those books take me by surprise. This was one of those books.
I was absolutely sold on this book from the minute I read the synopsis. A book inspired by Hamlet set in 1920s Oregon with a biracial female protagonist? Count me in! And then I got even more excited after I read Cat Winters's previous YA book, The Cure for Dreaming, and it was amazing.
One of the first things I loved about this book is that it makes so many references to Hamlet, and yet it was definitely its own story. A lot of the names were similar - Hannalee for Hamlet, Laurence for Laertes, Gerta for Gertrude. Fleur (Ophelia) knows a lot about the purposes of flowers and plants. Hannalee talks to the ghost of her father. And yet the character's aren't always subject to the same fates. The characters who were Hamlet's friends were sometimes replaced with Hannalee's enemies, and vice versa. And instead of the ghost of Hamlet's father urging a reluctant Hamlet to avenge him, the ghost of Hannalee's father is shocked and tries to restrain a vengeance-bound Hannalee.
After a while, this book almost entirely departs from the Hamlet plotline. Things were not what they appeared, and neither were people. A conflict that starts almost entirely within one family ends up with discussions of some of the darkest parts of Oregon history - prejudice, the Ku Klux Klan, and the eugenics movement. I learned a lot that I'm ashamed to say that I had no idea about before reading this. And these issues are not treated lightly - the book confronts the reader with how wrong things are head-on, and doesn't shy away from descriptions.
But the content alone isn't what made this book so incredible. The content may be powerful, but it's the writing that makes it really shine. I would have been moved by all of the things that I'd learned even if they were only written halfway decently. But the way these things were written moved me so deeply that I know I won't stop thinking about this book for a while.
The ending was some of the most beautiful writing in the book. So satisfying, so inspiring, and so hopeful.
We left the state of my birth behind and entered a new world, with different laws, different adventures and challenges; a state in which I'd taste even more of love and heartbreak, hate and triumphs; where I'd dance with Joe in jazz clubs, grow into a woman with Fleur, sharpen my brain, start a career, and meet people with skin colors similar to mine. A state in which I would eventually marry and give birth to children with their own beautiful colors.
For me, the rest was not silence.
It was loud and powerful and melodic.
kairene's review against another edition
3.0
I have no idea what it was about this novel, but while the characters were cool I felt a distinct lack of development and drive from the plot. It should have objectively been more engaging than it was in practice, which is disappointing. I do love this book for the unique story about the twenties-not as a decade of glitz and flappers, but as a time of deeply-rooted disgusting prejudices that harmed so many people just trying to live.
captainflint's review against another edition
3.0
7/20. Has interesting and compelling themes, but the characters are all shallow and have no personality.
adamantane's review against another edition
5.0
She is like Libba Bray. Brilliant at meshing history, magical realism and diversity.
I love this one, as the rest.
I love this one, as the rest.
spaceyfaerie's review against another edition
5.0
Ms Winters strikes again with this book, making me both angry (because of the injustices portrayed) and feelsy (because of her wonderful characters) at the same time. Loved Hanalee, loved Joe, loved everything.
Now I need to get off my butt and finally read Hamlet . . .
Now I need to get off my butt and finally read Hamlet . . .
bdietrich's review against another edition
3.0
Read for 5427 class
TAYSHAS 2017
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet set in Prohibition-era rural Oregon featuring a biracial female protagonist named Hanalee. After her father’s scandalous murder two years previously, Hanalee became the only African-American in her hometown of Elston. With the rising prominence of the Klu Klux Klan and a haunting on the road where her father was hit by a car, Hanalee has to reexamine her own self-worth as she is thrust into situation after situation teeming with lies, secrets, hatred, violence, bigotry, and prejudice.
The arrival of the KKK in 1921 (Winters, 2016, p. 107) and their hatred and prejudice were not new to Hanalee. Indeed, she and her mother and father had been subjected to it before Hanalee was even conceived because “’there might be something unnatural about your father and me [Hanalee’s mother] having children together’” (p. 95). But, Hanalee had friends and family who loved her and supported her, like Fleur and Fleur’s brother, Laurence, who taught Hanalee how to shoot a pistol for protection and told her, “’Don’t ever let them hurt you, Hanalee. Don’t ever let them make you feel small’” (p. 108). Her father also instilled in Hanalee self-worth: “’Just lift your head and show them who you are deep inside. Look them in the eye and smile, and the kind ones will see that brown is a beautiful color’” (p. 174).
Hanalee never folds to the KKK and her neighbors’ hatred; she only lets them see her smile and promises to make changes to the societal norms of Elston. Even after she’s kidnapped and taken to a lynching tree, bound with rope, called cruel names, scared for her life, and is forced to grapple with friends’ betrayals, she never acts with hatred or violence. Despite knowing how to fire a pistol and having one secreted away when Hanalee is kidnapped, she doesn’t shoot anyone. She refuses to react to violence with violence. Instead, Hanalee proves her ingenuity. She fires the gun, and the bullet whistles right past fellow victim Joe, causing him to faint and appear dead. The pandemonium halts the KKK’s “necktie party”, and the sheriff removes his white hood to arrest Hanalee for “murdering” Joe.
Hanalee refuses to “become like one of them” (Winters, 2016, p. 203). She knows that her dream of leaving Elston, becoming a lawyer, and “com[ing] back with the tools to fight these high-and-mighty bigots” is a “difficult path”, but her life is a difficult path, and she refuses to live it within the confines of other people’s decisions concerning who “’can live and breathe --and breed’” (p. 242-243). She protests their prejudices based on the color of her skin and Joe’s sexuality that attempt to oppress them into sub-par lives. In fact, their bigotry encourages her and Joe to survive and thrive: “’become better educated than them-- make more money than them-- love people more fiercely than they could ever dream of loving’” (p. 269). Hanalee lives out her high self-worth by snubbing their violence and only reacting with love. And Hanalee’s commitment to love those who hate her started the de-escalation of KKK influence in Elston as Joe’s father leads the “community to take a stand against the Klan” (p. 305).
The Steep and Thorny Way is an excellent mirror text for those who are on the receiving end of prejudice, hatred, and bigotry. From Hanalee, these readers learn that it is extremely difficult to not act with vengeance and retaliation. Instead, Hanalee depicts how to love others when you don’t feel loved and how to “be the bigger person”. While the story revolves mostly around racial prejudice, it also illustrates homophobia through the horrors Joe also experiences. It is, however, when Joe and Hanalee become a team that they are able to right the wrongs in Elston. They both understand what it is like to be an “outsider” (Winters, 2016, p. 163). And, as such, they illustrate that we are stronger together than separate. We shouldn’t allow labels to divide us, but we should stand together to create a thriving world of smiles, nonviolence, and fierce loving.
References
Winters, C. (2016). The steep and thorny way. New York City: Amulet Books.
TAYSHAS 2017
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters is a re-telling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet set in Prohibition-era rural Oregon featuring a biracial female protagonist named Hanalee. After her father’s scandalous murder two years previously, Hanalee became the only African-American in her hometown of Elston. With the rising prominence of the Klu Klux Klan and a haunting on the road where her father was hit by a car, Hanalee has to reexamine her own self-worth as she is thrust into situation after situation teeming with lies, secrets, hatred, violence, bigotry, and prejudice.
The arrival of the KKK in 1921 (Winters, 2016, p. 107) and their hatred and prejudice were not new to Hanalee. Indeed, she and her mother and father had been subjected to it before Hanalee was even conceived because “’there might be something unnatural about your father and me [Hanalee’s mother] having children together’” (p. 95). But, Hanalee had friends and family who loved her and supported her, like Fleur and Fleur’s brother, Laurence, who taught Hanalee how to shoot a pistol for protection and told her, “’Don’t ever let them hurt you, Hanalee. Don’t ever let them make you feel small’” (p. 108). Her father also instilled in Hanalee self-worth: “’Just lift your head and show them who you are deep inside. Look them in the eye and smile, and the kind ones will see that brown is a beautiful color’” (p. 174).
Hanalee never folds to the KKK and her neighbors’ hatred; she only lets them see her smile and promises to make changes to the societal norms of Elston. Even after she’s kidnapped and taken to a lynching tree, bound with rope, called cruel names, scared for her life, and is forced to grapple with friends’ betrayals, she never acts with hatred or violence. Despite knowing how to fire a pistol and having one secreted away when Hanalee is kidnapped, she doesn’t shoot anyone. She refuses to react to violence with violence. Instead, Hanalee proves her ingenuity. She fires the gun, and the bullet whistles right past fellow victim Joe, causing him to faint and appear dead. The pandemonium halts the KKK’s “necktie party”, and the sheriff removes his white hood to arrest Hanalee for “murdering” Joe.
Hanalee refuses to “become like one of them” (Winters, 2016, p. 203). She knows that her dream of leaving Elston, becoming a lawyer, and “com[ing] back with the tools to fight these high-and-mighty bigots” is a “difficult path”, but her life is a difficult path, and she refuses to live it within the confines of other people’s decisions concerning who “’can live and breathe --and breed’” (p. 242-243). She protests their prejudices based on the color of her skin and Joe’s sexuality that attempt to oppress them into sub-par lives. In fact, their bigotry encourages her and Joe to survive and thrive: “’become better educated than them-- make more money than them-- love people more fiercely than they could ever dream of loving’” (p. 269). Hanalee lives out her high self-worth by snubbing their violence and only reacting with love. And Hanalee’s commitment to love those who hate her started the de-escalation of KKK influence in Elston as Joe’s father leads the “community to take a stand against the Klan” (p. 305).
The Steep and Thorny Way is an excellent mirror text for those who are on the receiving end of prejudice, hatred, and bigotry. From Hanalee, these readers learn that it is extremely difficult to not act with vengeance and retaliation. Instead, Hanalee depicts how to love others when you don’t feel loved and how to “be the bigger person”. While the story revolves mostly around racial prejudice, it also illustrates homophobia through the horrors Joe also experiences. It is, however, when Joe and Hanalee become a team that they are able to right the wrongs in Elston. They both understand what it is like to be an “outsider” (Winters, 2016, p. 163). And, as such, they illustrate that we are stronger together than separate. We shouldn’t allow labels to divide us, but we should stand together to create a thriving world of smiles, nonviolence, and fierce loving.
References
Winters, C. (2016). The steep and thorny way. New York City: Amulet Books.
tashrow's review against another edition
5.0
Hanalee has always stood out in her hometown in Oregon in the 1920s. She is half African-American and so has very few rights under the law. Her father died a year ago, hit by a drunk driver. A neighbor has told Hanalee that her father is now a “haint,” a ghost traveling the road where he died. Hanalee also discovers that Joe, the boy found guilty for her father’s death is out of jail and back in town, hiding from everyone. The community is also ruled by the KKK, which is certainly not safe for someone like Hanalee. As Hanalee starts to piece together how her father may have died in a different way than a car accident, she also takes a tonic to see her father’s ghost. Joe also tells Hanalee his own secret, why his family has refused him shelter and why the KKK is after him as well.
Winters writes a gripping novel in this reworking of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Set in a time period that is often forgotten, this is a novel of Prohibition, the Klan and the lack of civil rights for people of color. Winters also ties in the loss of rights for LGBT people and how they also lived in the shadows and in desperate fear of being discovered. There is an additional layer of fear as eugenics was being done at the time, a danger for both people of color and LGBT people. With that level of societal pressure and fear, this novel soars and unlikely truces are made in a search for the truth.
Winters’ writing is piercing and honest. She allows Hanalee to figure out the various dangers in her life and somehow at the same time Hanalee is brave enough to not go into hiding or run away but to continue in her search for the truth. Hanalee is an amazing character, filled with love for her best friend, caring for Joe and an adoration of her dead father. Meanwhile she has to handle the dangers around her, and even face them head on with her simple presence in the community.
Brilliantly written, this is a stunning historical novel filled with ghosts and also a firm truth about the risks of the time. Appropriate for ages 14-17.
Winters writes a gripping novel in this reworking of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Set in a time period that is often forgotten, this is a novel of Prohibition, the Klan and the lack of civil rights for people of color. Winters also ties in the loss of rights for LGBT people and how they also lived in the shadows and in desperate fear of being discovered. There is an additional layer of fear as eugenics was being done at the time, a danger for both people of color and LGBT people. With that level of societal pressure and fear, this novel soars and unlikely truces are made in a search for the truth.
Winters’ writing is piercing and honest. She allows Hanalee to figure out the various dangers in her life and somehow at the same time Hanalee is brave enough to not go into hiding or run away but to continue in her search for the truth. Hanalee is an amazing character, filled with love for her best friend, caring for Joe and an adoration of her dead father. Meanwhile she has to handle the dangers around her, and even face them head on with her simple presence in the community.
Brilliantly written, this is a stunning historical novel filled with ghosts and also a firm truth about the risks of the time. Appropriate for ages 14-17.