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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I won an ARC of this book through goodreads first reads. I am so glad that I did because this book was so great! I loved all the characters and the setting. It was set in 1849 during the goldrush, and our main character Leah Westfall travels in covered wagons with other people during the book. I finished it fairly quickly and soaked up every word. I am so interested in learning more about this time period I plan on reading books similar to this! I can't wait to read the next two books in this trilogy. 5/5 stars, a must read!
I have discovered, to my great surprise, that westerns might be my thing. I loved this book so much. The characters, the setting and atmosphere, the pacing, it was all wonderful. Leah Westfall is such a great main character, she's complex and flawed and you get really invested in her journey and root for her. Most of the book is just about travelling, but the pacing is great and nothing feels like a filler, the story flows smoothly and the book is a real page turner. I can't wait to continue with the series, hopefully I'll get to pick up Like A River Glorious soon.
From the opening chapter that practically crackled with gold magic and frontier realism, I loved Walk on Earth a Stranger (bonus: the title is from my favorite hymn!) Totally different than most YA I read these days, this book was more gumption than magic, more True Grit than City of Bones. It was like the best version of Oregon Trail you ever played, only this time it was bloody realistic. Beautiful prose, excellent historical richness, and great characters helped this book deserve its shiny gold stars. On to the next one - soon, I hope.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book at first, but as the narrative dragged on, I lost interest. The ending made up for it a teeeeeeny tiny bit, but I'm going to stick with about a 3.5 rating for this one.
This book seemed like it would be a bit more about Lee's gold sense, her ability to know when there is gold around (which is a pretty excellent sense to have during the Gold Rush era). However, I would describe this more of an Oregon Trail type story, with some other elements added in (the gold sense, Lee disguising herself as a man, the romantic plot). I enjoyed all of these elements for the first few disks, but felt like the narrative would have benefited from a few less trials and tribulations experienced by our band of misfits.
Lee was an overall decent MC. She is quite strong and fearless, but still has a heart and is still a teenager. Major props to Rae Carson for going there and talking about menstruation! It happens, folks, and it ALWAYS happens during the most inconvenient moments of your life. Let's talk about it more so girls don't feel so ashamed of themselves and their bodies!
Overall, I would recommend to my teens who enjoy historical fiction. I am not even worried about the high concept supernatural portions of the narrative, because it doesn't factor in to the story abundantly.
Narrator notes: she was okay. Her male voices were pretty bad-- you could never distinguish who was who when a male was talking (and there are a TON of male characters in this novel), but her female voices were great. She had a slight southern accent which I enjoyed. Not my fav narrator, but decent enough.
RA: historical fiction, Oregon Trail-esque (lots of roughin it, accidents, illnesses, death-- none too terribly graphic).. dumb opinions on Native Americans (ugh, and I feel the author could have presented some more positive depictions here). Love story aspects. Woman presenting as male to make it on the road. Some language, maybe? Don't remember. Talk of menstruation yay! Creepy male authority figures. Strong female characters. Strong sense of journey in the narrative, a few of supernatural elements.
This book seemed like it would be a bit more about Lee's gold sense, her ability to know when there is gold around (which is a pretty excellent sense to have during the Gold Rush era). However, I would describe this more of an Oregon Trail type story, with some other elements added in (the gold sense, Lee disguising herself as a man, the romantic plot). I enjoyed all of these elements for the first few disks, but felt like the narrative would have benefited from a few less trials and tribulations experienced by our band of misfits.
Lee was an overall decent MC. She is quite strong and fearless, but still has a heart and is still a teenager. Major props to Rae Carson for going there and talking about menstruation! It happens, folks, and it ALWAYS happens during the most inconvenient moments of your life. Let's talk about it more so girls don't feel so ashamed of themselves and their bodies!
Overall, I would recommend to my teens who enjoy historical fiction. I am not even worried about the high concept supernatural portions of the narrative, because it doesn't factor in to the story abundantly.
Narrator notes: she was okay. Her male voices were pretty bad-- you could never distinguish who was who when a male was talking (and there are a TON of male characters in this novel), but her female voices were great. She had a slight southern accent which I enjoyed. Not my fav narrator, but decent enough.
RA: historical fiction, Oregon Trail-esque (lots of roughin it, accidents, illnesses, death-- none too terribly graphic).. dumb opinions on Native Americans (ugh, and I feel the author could have presented some more positive depictions here). Love story aspects. Woman presenting as male to make it on the road. Some language, maybe? Don't remember. Talk of menstruation yay! Creepy male authority figures. Strong female characters. Strong sense of journey in the narrative, a few of supernatural elements.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Heavier on the pioneer aspect than the fantasy/magic, but maybe it'll be different in the second book.
You can also find this review on Tea Books and Fun.
4.5 stars
I was hesitant to dive into this book, because I didn't finish Rae Carson's debut, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, even though I had heard great things about it. Nevertheless, since there was this western trend last year, I added it to my TBR. I had already read Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman and Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee, but Walk on Earth a Stranger is by far my favourite of the three. I also have to say that I couldn't resist the cover, and the cover of Like a River Glorious is even more gorgeous.
This book isn't for everybody, because the whole plot is just about getting to California, so it's just about the characters' journey. Of course it was slow-paced, but I was warned about it when I got into it, and I found it wasn't boring at all, since Carson introduced us to interesting characters and a realistic plot. Moreover, I really loved the writing style. Now that I think about it, it's logical that she chose to write a whole book about their journey, because it was so long to cross the country at that time, and since there will be two more books, I can accept it. I still found that despite the slow pace of this book, a lot of things happened, it was all about the caravan's journey and its accidents.
It felt true to this time period and I was really invested into it. At some point it was really hard to read because there was a disgusting scene but it had to happen. I totally felt like the author did her research, because I could actually picture all the places she talked about. I couldn't help but think of Frontierland in Disneyland Paris, which always brings back happy memories.
I really enjoyed reading about these characters, they were so different from each other, basically a band of misfits, the ones left behind while the other caravans started their journey. Because of that, I found them to be realistic and easy to attach to. Lee was an enjoyable main character, not the typical 19th century girl, because she was an only child and had to do men's chores. Also, another character wanted to be like her, she wasn't the only one to have a different mentality about women's place.
Moreover, she wasn't the only character to be different from what to expect from this time period : Carson introduced us to a diverse cast of characters that actually represented - at least in my opinion - people going to California at that time. At the end of the novel, the people in the caravan actually had a family dynamic which I found so cute.
There wasn't really romance into this book and I didn't mind at all, because it was part of Lee's character. Of course, there was some hints here of what to expect for future books. I don't really know what to think about it yet, because I don't think it will be a big plot device... It should just be portrayed as a part of life, which I'm okay with.
My only little regret with this book is that... I needed more of the fantasy aspect. I'm confident Lee will use her power more in the next book and I'm really excited about that. I loved the ending because it showed a lot of things were going to happen in the sequel, and now I'm a little too excited for it. I just loved this book so much, because I feel like it made me love historical fiction again, which used to be my favourite genre of them all.
If you're a history nerd like me, you should love this book! Yes, it was slow-paced, but the writing totally made up for it. I was really attached to the characters and can't wait to see what happens next, because they now are where things will get interesting.
4.5 stars
I was hesitant to dive into this book, because I didn't finish Rae Carson's debut, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, even though I had heard great things about it. Nevertheless, since there was this western trend last year, I added it to my TBR. I had already read Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman and Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee, but Walk on Earth a Stranger is by far my favourite of the three. I also have to say that I couldn't resist the cover, and the cover of Like a River Glorious is even more gorgeous.
This book isn't for everybody, because the whole plot is just about getting to California, so it's just about the characters' journey. Of course it was slow-paced, but I was warned about it when I got into it, and I found it wasn't boring at all, since Carson introduced us to interesting characters and a realistic plot. Moreover, I really loved the writing style. Now that I think about it, it's logical that she chose to write a whole book about their journey, because it was so long to cross the country at that time, and since there will be two more books, I can accept it. I still found that despite the slow pace of this book, a lot of things happened, it was all about the caravan's journey and its accidents.
It felt true to this time period and I was really invested into it. At some point it was really hard to read because there was a disgusting scene but it had to happen. I totally felt like the author did her research, because I could actually picture all the places she talked about. I couldn't help but think of Frontierland in Disneyland Paris, which always brings back happy memories.
I really enjoyed reading about these characters, they were so different from each other, basically a band of misfits, the ones left behind while the other caravans started their journey. Because of that, I found them to be realistic and easy to attach to. Lee was an enjoyable main character, not the typical 19th century girl, because she was an only child and had to do men's chores. Also, another character wanted to be like her, she wasn't the only one to have a different mentality about women's place.
Moreover, she wasn't the only character to be different from what to expect from this time period : Carson introduced us to a diverse cast of characters that actually represented - at least in my opinion - people going to California at that time. At the end of the novel, the people in the caravan actually had a family dynamic which I found so cute.
There wasn't really romance into this book and I didn't mind at all, because it was part of Lee's character. Of course, there was some hints here of what to expect for future books. I don't really know what to think about it yet, because I don't think it will be a big plot device... It should just be portrayed as a part of life, which I'm okay with.
My only little regret with this book is that... I needed more of the fantasy aspect. I'm confident Lee will use her power more in the next book and I'm really excited about that. I loved the ending because it showed a lot of things were going to happen in the sequel, and now I'm a little too excited for it. I just loved this book so much, because I feel like it made me love historical fiction again, which used to be my favourite genre of them all.
If you're a history nerd like me, you should love this book! Yes, it was slow-paced, but the writing totally made up for it. I was really attached to the characters and can't wait to see what happens next, because they now are where things will get interesting.
YA adventure story of a teenaged girl fleeing from Georgia to California during the gold rush. First in a series and really nicely paced with gripping details of the trek and life on the road.
A very interesting concept and a strong and compelling main character, but this book could have been at least a hundred pages shorter.