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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
while i enjoyed this for most parts this was actually kind of boring. i can accept that this book barely has a plot and is just a travel book from one us coast to the other. unfortunately, what it needed for the whole plotlessness to be okay was interesting characters. and it just didn’t have that. the main character has got some personality and nice thoughts, but every other character is not developed even a little bit.
there are also racist slurs used as well as a lot of sexist comments, and i get it because well, history? but it made me uncomfortable, so content warning for that, i guess.
there are also racist slurs used as well as a lot of sexist comments, and i get it because well, history? but it made me uncomfortable, so content warning for that, i guess.
Oregon Trail except to California, and with magic. I enjoyed this one but got bogged down in the sequel when the body count got too high. Listened on Audiobook, which had great narration but also makes me more sensitive to violence. Easier to skip past things when reading! This first book reads more like historical fiction, the magic plays a bigger role in the second book.
Very historical and barely fantasy, Walk on Earth a Stranger is very different from Rae Carson's previous trilogy, but it was an enjoyable read. It reminded me a lot of [b:Under a Painted Sky|22501055|Under a Painted Sky|Stacey Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404520780s/22501055.jpg|26170310], since it's set in the same era with a similar westward journey, girl disguising self as a boy, and sense of escape. There isn't a very active plot, since the book focuses on Lee's journey west, but we do get to see her development and tackle some issues of gender, sexuality, and race in this historical context. While I enjoyed the book, I would've liked to see some more complexity from Lee's character as well as more depth in the people around her.
DAMN. Leah is my new idol, I love this girl. SHE IS SO BADASS. Also great historical fiction for future reference
Thoughts When I Finished:
Is it weird that this book reminded me of Little House on the Prairie? Maybe not. They are in the same time period. I was actually surprised I liked this book. There wasn’t a lot of fantasy elements in it and it was pretty slowly paced. The events that happened weren’t huge or intense in any way but I still really enjoyed reading it.
What I Loved:
I love the mixture of the fantasy elements with an 1830’s time period. I thought that was really interesting. I found the author did a good job too with what sort of things would be around in that time period. She really did her research.
It’s hard to have an opinion of the characters because there were only a couple that were around for the whole book. I think the characters we ended up with at the end were sort of weeded out and will end up being my prominent in the next books. This was a road trip book of a sort so there were lots of people that were met but then ended up going their separate ways. Who knows though, maybe we’ll see some again. I did mostly like the main character. She has a ways to go development wise but I was never annoyed or upset with her. Even though she didn’t blow me away I was happy with how she turned out.
What I Didn’t Like:
I don’t know what is it that made me give this book 4 stars. I guess it was just that fact that it didn’t completely blow me away. The plot was a little slow sometimes and I like more fast paced, action packed plots. Even though the plot was slow and fairly mild, I still found myself enjoying the story.
Who I’d recommend To:
I’d recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction who like a little taste of fantasy. This was mostly a historical fiction book because the only fantasy element was that the main character had a special gift. Nobody else seems to have any gifts so it’s just a little taste of fantasy. Also, if you liked Little House on the Prairie this might be a good match for you.
Quick Review:
This is the perfect book for lovers of western fiction and those who love going on long journeys while staying at home in bed. It’s an easy book to get through because of the slower, easy going plot. The main character, Leah, isn’t the sort of person to rush things but is still extremely smart. You’ll love being paired with her on this crazy adventure.
Is it weird that this book reminded me of Little House on the Prairie? Maybe not. They are in the same time period. I was actually surprised I liked this book. There wasn’t a lot of fantasy elements in it and it was pretty slowly paced. The events that happened weren’t huge or intense in any way but I still really enjoyed reading it.
What I Loved:
I love the mixture of the fantasy elements with an 1830’s time period. I thought that was really interesting. I found the author did a good job too with what sort of things would be around in that time period. She really did her research.
It’s hard to have an opinion of the characters because there were only a couple that were around for the whole book. I think the characters we ended up with at the end were sort of weeded out and will end up being my prominent in the next books. This was a road trip book of a sort so there were lots of people that were met but then ended up going their separate ways. Who knows though, maybe we’ll see some again. I did mostly like the main character. She has a ways to go development wise but I was never annoyed or upset with her. Even though she didn’t blow me away I was happy with how she turned out.
What I Didn’t Like:
I don’t know what is it that made me give this book 4 stars. I guess it was just that fact that it didn’t completely blow me away. The plot was a little slow sometimes and I like more fast paced, action packed plots. Even though the plot was slow and fairly mild, I still found myself enjoying the story.
Who I’d recommend To:
I’d recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction who like a little taste of fantasy. This was mostly a historical fiction book because the only fantasy element was that the main character had a special gift. Nobody else seems to have any gifts so it’s just a little taste of fantasy. Also, if you liked Little House on the Prairie this might be a good match for you.
Quick Review:
This is the perfect book for lovers of western fiction and those who love going on long journeys while staying at home in bed. It’s an easy book to get through because of the slower, easy going plot. The main character, Leah, isn’t the sort of person to rush things but is still extremely smart. You’ll love being paired with her on this crazy adventure.
I think this is a case of “It’s not you, it’s me.”
When I was a kid/young teen, I went through a multi-year obsession with survival stories. I pretty much only read nonfiction about people (usually historical people) who survived crazy wilderness situations. The California and Yukon gold rushes were probably my second-biggest wilderness passion. Arctic exploration was definitely my deadly-story first love, but I read a lot of gold rush nonfiction. If a book promised that someone was going to die horrifically in the wild, young me was all over it.
So, what does this have to do with Walk on Earth a Stranger? Well, this novel is set in gold-rush-era America and focuses on a teen girl named Leah. She has a secret: She can sense gold. She uses her power to make her family rich. This attracts the attention of some unsavory people. After Leah is forced to flee from her home, she decides to head west with her kind-of-sort-of boyfriend. Gold has recently been discovered in California, and she knows that she’ll be able to find enough of it to make a new life for herself. Her biggest challenge will be surviving the trip from Georgia to California.
I didn’t like this book as much as I expected I would. I know that I burned myself out on gold rush stories when I was younger, but I thought that Leah’s gold-sensing magic would add a new twist to a familiar tale. Unfortunately, the magic is barely present in this book. Hundreds of pages go by without it even being mentioned. The book is marketed as fantasy, but it feels a lot more like historical fiction, which would usually be fine with me because I love historical books. My issue is that this book doesn’t bring anything new to the historical fiction genre. I found Leah’s journey to California to be painfully slow and highly predictable. I felt like I spent the entire book waiting for something big to happen, and nothing ever did.
I also wasn’t feeling Leah’s love interest. Jefferson seems to spend most of his time sulking. I understand why he’s unhappy—he’s often near-death and has to deal with racist idiots on top of it—but I started to wonder what Leah sees in him. He doesn’t have a lot going on in the personality department.
There are some elements of the book that I love. Leah is a badass woman. I really like her. She’s loyal and quick-thinking, and nothing is going to stop her from getting to California. She’s confident in her body but not unrealistically beautiful, which is rare for a YA heroine.
The book discusses a lot of interesting gender issues. For part of the story, Leah is forced to dress as a boy, “Lee,” because she needs money. The author does an impressive job of showing the differences in the ways that Lee and Leah are treated. Even though they are the same person, Lee gets all of the advantages that society has to offer. Leah is treated like property.
This book does have some positive aspects, and I was entertained by parts of it, but I probably won’t continue with the series. It just didn’t offer much that I haven’t seen before.
When I was a kid/young teen, I went through a multi-year obsession with survival stories. I pretty much only read nonfiction about people (usually historical people) who survived crazy wilderness situations. The California and Yukon gold rushes were probably my second-biggest wilderness passion. Arctic exploration was definitely my deadly-story first love, but I read a lot of gold rush nonfiction. If a book promised that someone was going to die horrifically in the wild, young me was all over it.
So, what does this have to do with Walk on Earth a Stranger? Well, this novel is set in gold-rush-era America and focuses on a teen girl named Leah. She has a secret: She can sense gold. She uses her power to make her family rich. This attracts the attention of some unsavory people. After Leah is forced to flee from her home, she decides to head west with her kind-of-sort-of boyfriend. Gold has recently been discovered in California, and she knows that she’ll be able to find enough of it to make a new life for herself. Her biggest challenge will be surviving the trip from Georgia to California.
“‘Only way to reach the green grass of Oregon or the sweet gold of California is through hell itself.’” – Walk on Earth a Stranger.
I didn’t like this book as much as I expected I would. I know that I burned myself out on gold rush stories when I was younger, but I thought that Leah’s gold-sensing magic would add a new twist to a familiar tale. Unfortunately, the magic is barely present in this book. Hundreds of pages go by without it even being mentioned. The book is marketed as fantasy, but it feels a lot more like historical fiction, which would usually be fine with me because I love historical books. My issue is that this book doesn’t bring anything new to the historical fiction genre. I found Leah’s journey to California to be painfully slow and highly predictable. I felt like I spent the entire book waiting for something big to happen, and nothing ever did.
I also wasn’t feeling Leah’s love interest. Jefferson seems to spend most of his time sulking. I understand why he’s unhappy—he’s often near-death and has to deal with racist idiots on top of it—but I started to wonder what Leah sees in him. He doesn’t have a lot going on in the personality department.
There are some elements of the book that I love. Leah is a badass woman. I really like her. She’s loyal and quick-thinking, and nothing is going to stop her from getting to California. She’s confident in her body but not unrealistically beautiful, which is rare for a YA heroine.
“I have a strange life; I know it well. We have a big homestead and not enough working hands, so I’m the girl who hunts and farms and pans for gold because her daddy never had sons. I’m forever weary, my hands roughed and cracked, my skirts worn too thin too soon. The town girls poke fun at me, calling me 'Plain Lee' on account of my strong hands and my strong jaw.” – Walk on Earth a Stranger
The book discusses a lot of interesting gender issues. For part of the story, Leah is forced to dress as a boy, “Lee,” because she needs money. The author does an impressive job of showing the differences in the ways that Lee and Leah are treated. Even though they are the same person, Lee gets all of the advantages that society has to offer. Leah is treated like property.
“‘Men can be relentless,’ she agrees, ‘when they think a woman belongs to them.’” - Walk on Earth a Stranger
This book does have some positive aspects, and I was entertained by parts of it, but I probably won’t continue with the series. It just didn’t offer much that I haven’t seen before.
I did not expect to like this Western book so much. It's really a Historical Fiction novel with a supernatural twist. The main character Leah, who can sense when gold is near, decides to dress like a man and make her way to California's gold rush. Some historical facts I found interesting were the buffalo stampede, the hard life of traveling by covered wagon, and how women were treated in this time. Leah's character is so brave among the hardships she faced. I enjoyed reading about the characters in their traveling party, from small children to an older military gentlemen. I also grew attached to the pony Peony. I can't wait to read the next in the series.
I'm DYING to read this book!
I think I will stare at this cover forever
Bye.
I think I will stare at this cover forever
Bye.
3.5 - I think I would have really liked this at some point in my life, but instead it just felt extremely claustrophobic.