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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Racial slurs, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Colonisation
lynching
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Told like a fireside tale, sort of like the tales of the Yukon, I really liked it. Well paced, and with interesting characters. It did feel very YA fiction in vibe? I'm rating it within that assumption.
I was interested at the start and then it went off the rails. Also some of the language choices were distracting and pulled you out of the intended period. I think I would have enjoyed this more had it stayed in the lane historical novel.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
I wanted to like this more because I was so engaged at the beginning but I got kind of lost in the middle and at the end. The creature reminded me a little bit of Monstrilio so I enjoyed that and I liked hearing about lone women in the west.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
Adelaide moves to Montana to homestead some land in 1917, where she evolves from an outcast carrying shame and a secret to an independent community member who learns to trust and protect those she cares about.
The characters, setting, and themes give this book the feel of a really good western. I LOVED the vibes, rooted for Adelaide, Grace, Sam, and detested the Reeds as the novel progressed and explored the burdens of secret keeping, isolation and community, and the resilience of women and especially non-white women in the west.
To me this felt almost like two books instead of one cohesive story, though. The travel to Montana was a phenomenal setup, but some of the characters and intrigue introduced early on ended up not playing a role in the plot while characters introduced later on ended up being very significant. I guess my expectations got confused about where the story was going. I wanted more background and action from Bertie and Fiona. I also expected a little more from *the creature* (maybe I'm dumb but I never totally understood what she is an allegory for?) and the couple who seemed to worship her. I even wanted more from the Mudges, especially the boys. All this to say, I loved it but thought it was underdeveloped. I would have happily read 200 more pages of this story.
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-paced