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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I am not quite sure why this was marketed as a fantasy- because in my opinion it isn't.
Well, it does have some fantasy aspects.. but on the large, I would call this a historical novel.
And therein lies my biggest issue.
There is no world building. If this is a fantasy- then the world building is extremely bad. Because the only bit of world building that has been done: There are some people with witchy powers. Full Stop.
That's it. No other fantasy or paranormal aspect at all. Ok maybe because there is some paranormal bits- we could call it a paranormal historical? Even that is kind of a big stretch at the moment at least, maybe Carson will add more paranormal bit in the next installmen? Who knows, but for me this was a huge let down.
Now. Let's look at the rest of this novel.
The genre is different from what I usually read. This is a rather realistic historical western- based on the gold rush to California. And if you look at it that way... it's rather a different experience.
To be honest I am not that well versed on that part of the history. But as far as I can tell Carson did a smashing job at it. The difficulties and dangers that people faced, the euphoria , the drive of the gold rush. It's brilliantly described and conveyed.
Carson's description, her writing style are beautiful. This a really well written novel. Clearly well researched. I love the landscapes Carson painted with her words.
But mostly I loved her character building. It's definitely my favorite part of Walk on Earth a Stranger. While everything is told from Lee POV, so the view of a young girl, who travels by herself west, each character has real depth. Over and over we get to see other sides to each of the support cast. Lee changes hugely, her fears and hopes were pivotal to me. I totally got where she was coming from. Her upbringing being unique for it's time, the mysteries around her parents past and the friendships she forms are part of what makes her feel like a real historical character.
I feel like I got a glimpse of one of the tracks west. A slice of those exciting and scary dangerous times thanks to the exceptional character building.
Because while Lee is in constant movement- and somehow quite a bit happens. This is totally character driven. It's the lives and story of the characters that build the story.
Looking at the plot. I was left with a gazillion questions. As I said, Lee is in constant movement. There is a hint a romance, but not much happens in that department. But if I would have to sum the plot up.. in one sentence: This is the story about Lee's track, who through bad and unexpected circumstances, ends up joining the gold rush to California, on her own and in disguise.
I found this rather slow paced. I kinda expected more adventure. But after I got over my initial expectations- I enjoyed the slow but beautiful way this was written, reveled in the brilliant way Carson conveyed an interesting part of history through her ability to bring the human aspects of the time across.
While I am totally unimpressed with the worldbuilding. I liked that this is something different, a completely different setting than what I usually read. At this point I am planning on reading the next installment.
Walk on Earth a Stranger is a beautiful and interesting coming of age story, set in an intriguing time with a splash of paranormal.
Well, it does have some fantasy aspects.. but on the large, I would call this a historical novel.
And therein lies my biggest issue.
There is no world building. If this is a fantasy- then the world building is extremely bad. Because the only bit of world building that has been done: There are some people with witchy powers. Full Stop.
That's it. No other fantasy or paranormal aspect at all. Ok maybe because there is some paranormal bits- we could call it a paranormal historical? Even that is kind of a big stretch at the moment at least, maybe Carson will add more paranormal bit in the next installmen? Who knows, but for me this was a huge let down.
Now. Let's look at the rest of this novel.
The genre is different from what I usually read. This is a rather realistic historical western- based on the gold rush to California. And if you look at it that way... it's rather a different experience.
To be honest I am not that well versed on that part of the history. But as far as I can tell Carson did a smashing job at it. The difficulties and dangers that people faced, the euphoria , the drive of the gold rush. It's brilliantly described and conveyed.
Carson's description, her writing style are beautiful. This a really well written novel. Clearly well researched. I love the landscapes Carson painted with her words.
But mostly I loved her character building. It's definitely my favorite part of Walk on Earth a Stranger. While everything is told from Lee POV, so the view of a young girl, who travels by herself west, each character has real depth. Over and over we get to see other sides to each of the support cast. Lee changes hugely, her fears and hopes were pivotal to me. I totally got where she was coming from. Her upbringing being unique for it's time, the mysteries around her parents past and the friendships she forms are part of what makes her feel like a real historical character.
I feel like I got a glimpse of one of the tracks west. A slice of those exciting and scary dangerous times thanks to the exceptional character building.
Because while Lee is in constant movement- and somehow quite a bit happens. This is totally character driven. It's the lives and story of the characters that build the story.
Looking at the plot. I was left with a gazillion questions. As I said, Lee is in constant movement. There is a hint a romance, but not much happens in that department. But if I would have to sum the plot up.. in one sentence: This is the story about Lee's track, who through bad and unexpected circumstances, ends up joining the gold rush to California, on her own and in disguise.
I found this rather slow paced. I kinda expected more adventure. But after I got over my initial expectations- I enjoyed the slow but beautiful way this was written, reveled in the brilliant way Carson conveyed an interesting part of history through her ability to bring the human aspects of the time across.
While I am totally unimpressed with the worldbuilding. I liked that this is something different, a completely different setting than what I usually read. At this point I am planning on reading the next installment.
Walk on Earth a Stranger is a beautiful and interesting coming of age story, set in an intriguing time with a splash of paranormal.
I've read some reviews complaining that this book is slow and basically the equivalent of The Deathly Hallows Part 1, except instead of walking through a forest the whole time they're walking across America. Trying to explain what Walk On Earth a Stranger is about is difficult because, yes, the story is about a group of people walking across America to find gold in California, but it's also so much more than that. There's definitely some predictability in their journey, they and the reader know at some point they will encounter hardships when it comes to passing through the desert of Nevada, but the surprises come in the relationships between the people.
Lee's family kept to themselves and her mother's last words to her were, "Trust someone". When she sets off for California with her best friend Jefferson, the fear of her Uncle Hiram finding her keeps her from opening up to people. To the others in her group, she is Lee the runaway boy. Even Jefferson doesn't know about her gift for sensing gold, a very valuable skill during a gold rush. One of my favourite parts of this book was watching Lee grow. I can really appreciate a character's experiences affecting them so much that it changes them. I will definitely be reading the second book and hopefully the third!
Lee's family kept to themselves and her mother's last words to her were, "Trust someone". When she sets off for California with her best friend Jefferson, the fear of her Uncle Hiram finding her keeps her from opening up to people. To the others in her group, she is Lee the runaway boy. Even Jefferson doesn't know about her gift for sensing gold, a very valuable skill during a gold rush. One of my favourite parts of this book was watching Lee grow. I can really appreciate a character's experiences affecting them so much that it changes them. I will definitely be reading the second book and hopefully the third!
I love this book so much. It is currently 2:18 AM in my neck of the woods so I will have a review up tomorrow. But for right now all you need to know is this book is amazing and YOU NEED TO READ IT.
**Minor Spoilers Ahead**
"The presence of gold fades with distance, but never leaves me. Maybe, in California, it will infuse me constantly, like the warmth of my own private sun."
This is the first book I've read by Rae Carson and it certainly will not be the last. I loved her writing and the characters she created. She did not hold back in this book when it came the history and the events that occurred within the story. Life, death, violence, anger, HISTORY, all of these things came together to create a truly magnificent story.
“’This nugget is nothing, Lee. Even your magic is nothing. You’re a good girl and the best daughter. And that? That’s something.’
‘Yes, Daddy.’”
The story is told in the perspective of our butt-kicking heroine, Leah Westfall. We first meet Leah in the woods of Dahlonega, Georgia in January of 1849. The Mexican-American War has just ended a year earlier and one of the results of this was President James K. Polk acquiring the California territory. This would forever change the United States as well as Leah Westfall’s life. Leah’s parents are tragically murdered in the beginning of the story. After this event Leah’s Uncle Hiram comes into the picture. He intends to take over Leah’s home and life, and Leah sees that the freedom she experienced with her parents is quickly being taken away. The only way she can truly be free is if she heads west to find her best friend Jefferson and escape into California where her Uncle Hiram has no power over her. So Leah disguises herself as a boy and she starts on a journey that will be extremely tough but also fulfilling in Leah’s search for herself.
“So it’s now, with my own fire crackling, my lips greasy with the squirrel I just ate, and the night echoing with the distant yip of a coyote that I miss Daddy most. He should be here with me. We should have been on this adventure together.”
One part that really struck me was when Leah was travelling alone in the beginning of the novel. She is such a strong character and person but the reader still must remember that she is still grieving for both her parents and the life she had before. Rae Carson made Leah’s emotions so real and her grief actually made me emotional. A lot of this book made me emotional actually. However, we see Leah eventually find Jefferson and find people that she comes to care for and care for her.
“Trust someone, Mama said. Her dying words, burned into my heart. But she was wrong. When there’s gold to be had, you can’t trust anyone. Not a single soul.”
Leah has a secret power. She can sense gold, whether it’s in the Earth or it’s a necklace around someone’s neck. It is a dangerous ability for any person to have because of the lust for gold during the California Gold Rush. This lust is partly what drove her Uncle to murder her parents and she knows she has to keep this a secret from everyone, including her best friend Jefferson. Although Leah begins the story unwilling to trust anyone, she learns along the way that there are people she can trust. Her growth throughout the novel is shown in her interactions with Jefferson and the other families that she travels with to California. I loved the entire journey that Leah was on. It brought me back to my Oregon Trail days. I was OBSESSED with that game when I was little kid. My mom allowed me to play on our dinosaur of a computer for only an hour a day and Oregon Trail was my go to game. Rae Carson made me feel like I was there on the trail with Leah. It was so realistic and actually really historically accurate. I am a history major and I’ve learned my fair share of American history. It’s never been my favorite history to learn about but I’ve always loved learning about this era with the California Gold Rush and the move west. The scene that really killed me was the buffalo scene because that kind of thing actually happened. The measles blankets also really made me angry, because again it’s something that people actually did. Rae Carson does an amazing job of including real history in this story and it was such a breath of fresh air.
“Seems like I’ve been waiting for you to come around my whole life, Lee. But a man can’t wait forever and stay a man.”
I just want to say a few things about the relationship between Leah and Jefferson. First of all, I loved their relationship. They have been best friends forever but now that they’re older it seems like it could be more. Rae Carson made their relationship develop very slowly and that was so great. We hardly have any romance in this novel, it’s not the main focus and that’s what helps make this novel great. I totally thought Jefferson and Therese were going to have something and I was going to get annoyed but that’s not the case. I can’t wait to see where this relationship goes.
“There’s not a place in the whole world where everyone isn’t willing—no, eager—to give up a girl to a man.”
Can we talk about the feminist undertones in this book? Obviously, we can talk about Leah and her independence but we can also really analyze Becky Joyner as well. I even like Mrs. Joyner now! She was a you-know-what in the beginning but she really grew on me. Her unpleasantness stems from her husband, in my opinion. And once he dies I think she is able to find that independence that all women in their lives want. Leah’s transformation is really at the forefront of the novel but as a reader I also loved watching Becky’s transformation as well. She is a mother who cares only for her children and she does everything in her power to protect them even if that means to be rude and harsh to people like Leah. However, over the course of this journey Becky Joyner learns more about being a woman and that there’s more to life than being a wife.
This book is one of the only books where I haven’t been annoyed with a single character. Yeah I didn’t like some of the bad guys but they all worked in the story and I enjoy reading about them. I just really can’t wait to read the next book. I love all of these characters and their relationships with one another. I would recommend it to everyone, especially if you love American history and are in the mood for a journey because this book really takes you on one. I feel like I’ve written an essay but this book has really had an impact on me. My only regret is that I wish I read it sooner!
“I’ve never felt so far from God’s grace. I suppose I am a stranger walking on Earth, but I’m no son of God. I’m no son at all.”
Happy reading, friends! ☺
You can also find this review on my blog here:
http://soreadyourbooksbutstayoutlate.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-walk-on-earth-stranger-minor.html
**Minor Spoilers Ahead**
"The presence of gold fades with distance, but never leaves me. Maybe, in California, it will infuse me constantly, like the warmth of my own private sun."
This is the first book I've read by Rae Carson and it certainly will not be the last. I loved her writing and the characters she created. She did not hold back in this book when it came the history and the events that occurred within the story. Life, death, violence, anger, HISTORY, all of these things came together to create a truly magnificent story.
“’This nugget is nothing, Lee. Even your magic is nothing. You’re a good girl and the best daughter. And that? That’s something.’
‘Yes, Daddy.’”
The story is told in the perspective of our butt-kicking heroine, Leah Westfall. We first meet Leah in the woods of Dahlonega, Georgia in January of 1849. The Mexican-American War has just ended a year earlier and one of the results of this was President James K. Polk acquiring the California territory. This would forever change the United States as well as Leah Westfall’s life. Leah’s parents are tragically murdered in the beginning of the story. After this event Leah’s Uncle Hiram comes into the picture. He intends to take over Leah’s home and life, and Leah sees that the freedom she experienced with her parents is quickly being taken away. The only way she can truly be free is if she heads west to find her best friend Jefferson and escape into California where her Uncle Hiram has no power over her. So Leah disguises herself as a boy and she starts on a journey that will be extremely tough but also fulfilling in Leah’s search for herself.
“So it’s now, with my own fire crackling, my lips greasy with the squirrel I just ate, and the night echoing with the distant yip of a coyote that I miss Daddy most. He should be here with me. We should have been on this adventure together.”
One part that really struck me was when Leah was travelling alone in the beginning of the novel. She is such a strong character and person but the reader still must remember that she is still grieving for both her parents and the life she had before. Rae Carson made Leah’s emotions so real and her grief actually made me emotional. A lot of this book made me emotional actually. However, we see Leah eventually find Jefferson and find people that she comes to care for and care for her.
“Trust someone, Mama said. Her dying words, burned into my heart. But she was wrong. When there’s gold to be had, you can’t trust anyone. Not a single soul.”
Leah has a secret power. She can sense gold, whether it’s in the Earth or it’s a necklace around someone’s neck. It is a dangerous ability for any person to have because of the lust for gold during the California Gold Rush. This lust is partly what drove her Uncle to murder her parents and she knows she has to keep this a secret from everyone, including her best friend Jefferson. Although Leah begins the story unwilling to trust anyone, she learns along the way that there are people she can trust. Her growth throughout the novel is shown in her interactions with Jefferson and the other families that she travels with to California. I loved the entire journey that Leah was on. It brought me back to my Oregon Trail days. I was OBSESSED with that game when I was little kid. My mom allowed me to play on our dinosaur of a computer for only an hour a day and Oregon Trail was my go to game. Rae Carson made me feel like I was there on the trail with Leah. It was so realistic and actually really historically accurate. I am a history major and I’ve learned my fair share of American history. It’s never been my favorite history to learn about but I’ve always loved learning about this era with the California Gold Rush and the move west. The scene that really killed me was the buffalo scene because that kind of thing actually happened. The measles blankets also really made me angry, because again it’s something that people actually did. Rae Carson does an amazing job of including real history in this story and it was such a breath of fresh air.
“Seems like I’ve been waiting for you to come around my whole life, Lee. But a man can’t wait forever and stay a man.”
I just want to say a few things about the relationship between Leah and Jefferson. First of all, I loved their relationship. They have been best friends forever but now that they’re older it seems like it could be more. Rae Carson made their relationship develop very slowly and that was so great. We hardly have any romance in this novel, it’s not the main focus and that’s what helps make this novel great. I totally thought Jefferson and Therese were going to have something and I was going to get annoyed but that’s not the case. I can’t wait to see where this relationship goes.
“There’s not a place in the whole world where everyone isn’t willing—no, eager—to give up a girl to a man.”
Can we talk about the feminist undertones in this book? Obviously, we can talk about Leah and her independence but we can also really analyze Becky Joyner as well. I even like Mrs. Joyner now! She was a you-know-what in the beginning but she really grew on me. Her unpleasantness stems from her husband, in my opinion. And once he dies I think she is able to find that independence that all women in their lives want. Leah’s transformation is really at the forefront of the novel but as a reader I also loved watching Becky’s transformation as well. She is a mother who cares only for her children and she does everything in her power to protect them even if that means to be rude and harsh to people like Leah. However, over the course of this journey Becky Joyner learns more about being a woman and that there’s more to life than being a wife.
This book is one of the only books where I haven’t been annoyed with a single character. Yeah I didn’t like some of the bad guys but they all worked in the story and I enjoy reading about them. I just really can’t wait to read the next book. I love all of these characters and their relationships with one another. I would recommend it to everyone, especially if you love American history and are in the mood for a journey because this book really takes you on one. I feel like I’ve written an essay but this book has really had an impact on me. My only regret is that I wish I read it sooner!
“I’ve never felt so far from God’s grace. I suppose I am a stranger walking on Earth, but I’m no son of God. I’m no son at all.”
Happy reading, friends! ☺
You can also find this review on my blog here:
http://soreadyourbooksbutstayoutlate.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-walk-on-earth-stranger-minor.html
DNF @ 3%
Walk on Earth a Stranger
I was expecting big things for this book. REAL BIG THINGS.
And it started off as that typical hunting scene. WHY? WHY DOES EVERY BOOK START WITH A HUMAN KILLING AN ANIMAL?
That just killed it for me. I tried to read on but was literally let down.
Walk on Earth a Stranger
I was expecting big things for this book. REAL BIG THINGS.
And it started off as that typical hunting scene. WHY? WHY DOES EVERY BOOK START WITH A HUMAN KILLING AN ANIMAL?
That just killed it for me. I tried to read on but was literally let down.
You know that game, The Oregon Trail? You would choose an occupation (I was usually a carpenter, so I could fix broken axles, wheels, etc), assign your skill points for foraging or keeping morale high, choose a city to start from(I always started from Independence or Jefferson City) and a city as your end destination(Honestly, I mostly shot for Salt Lake City, as it was the closest, and involved less desert), choose when to leave (I would leave in the middle of February, because spring would be coming soon, but if you made good time, you'd be able to cross the rivers when they were frozen and miss the spring floods), and then wander around town, buying food, guns and ammo for hunting, livestock, and assorted goods, being careful not to exceed the weight limit of whatever wagon you bought. (I always bought the biggest - I needed to be able to cart along those extra 100 pounds of celery, cheap and nutritious.) And then, finally, you would start off down the trail.
This book was the rest of the game.
You would travel and travel, finding wild fruits and veggies, riding out on hunting expeditions (a bison stampede, oh boy!)
fight outbreaks of cholera, dysentery, general illnesses,
and the death of members of the wagon train.
Somebody would get grumbly and you'd rest for a few days to bring up morale. Maybe you'd run out of water and frantically search for an trading post that might still have a barrel. If you were enterprising, you could trade with other wagon teams or Indians you met along the way. Sometimes the hills were so steep, you'd have to use chains on the wheels, or risk a tipped/broken wagon(Lee's wagon train should have considered chains...) And then of course, inevitably, no matter what you did, a wheel, axel, or yoke would break.
And while this book didn't have every minute element of the Oregon Trail, and it certainly had some additions to the expedition, it was basically the same. (No surprise there.) Except I'd have been rather playing the game. Which is not to say that this was bad, but it was slow and it's basically just a long lead-up to the following books of this series. Very little happens that you couldn't start with Book Two and jump right into the story. Lee's gold finding abilities are utilized very little, and nothing much comes of it, except for it being the driving reason why she leaves town for California. And honestly, I see why she's going to California, because people are gonna be less suspicious of her tripping over gold every time they turn around, but it will also incite a lot of jealousy on their part, even if they don't discover her secret. So California also seems the absolute worst place someone of her abilities could go. Someone finds out about your ability, and you're up a creek without a paddle. In fact, she's already discovered that people are willing to murder to get to her and her abilities, and the murderer is following her to California. Like, come on, girl, GO TO TEXAS OR SOMETHING.
But actually, now that I'm considering this, this book is a cross between The Oregon Trail and the Yukon Trail, which was boring as heck as you traveled up to the Yukon and really only got exciting when you could stake a claim and start panning and mining for gold.
That being said, I will be checking the second book out, because maybe something exciting will happen now that Lee's in California? One can hope.
This book was the rest of the game.
You would travel and travel, finding wild fruits and veggies, riding out on hunting expeditions (a bison stampede, oh boy!)
fight outbreaks of cholera, dysentery, general illnesses,
and the death of members of the wagon train.
Somebody would get grumbly and you'd rest for a few days to bring up morale. Maybe you'd run out of water and frantically search for an trading post that might still have a barrel. If you were enterprising, you could trade with other wagon teams or Indians you met along the way. Sometimes the hills were so steep, you'd have to use chains on the wheels, or risk a tipped/broken wagon(Lee's wagon train should have considered chains...) And then of course, inevitably, no matter what you did, a wheel, axel, or yoke would break.
And while this book didn't have every minute element of the Oregon Trail, and it certainly had some additions to the expedition, it was basically the same. (No surprise there.) Except I'd have been rather playing the game. Which is not to say that this was bad, but it was slow and it's basically just a long lead-up to the following books of this series. Very little happens that you couldn't start with Book Two and jump right into the story. Lee's gold finding abilities are utilized very little, and nothing much comes of it, except for it being the driving reason why she leaves town for California. And honestly, I see why she's going to California, because people are gonna be less suspicious of her tripping over gold every time they turn around, but it will also incite a lot of jealousy on their part, even if they don't discover her secret. So California also seems the absolute worst place someone of her abilities could go. Someone finds out about your ability, and you're up a creek without a paddle. In fact, she's already discovered that people are willing to murder to get to her and her abilities, and the murderer is following her to California. Like, come on, girl, GO TO TEXAS OR SOMETHING.
But actually, now that I'm considering this, this book is a cross between The Oregon Trail and the Yukon Trail, which was boring as heck as you traveled up to the Yukon and really only got exciting when you could stake a claim and start panning and mining for gold.
That being said, I will be checking the second book out, because maybe something exciting will happen now that Lee's in California? One can hope.
A love letter to Oregon trail! I could not stop thinking about the game while reading this book, and it was not a bad thing.
A really interesting concept that ended up failing in it's execution. I really wanted to enjoy this but by the end it just fell flat. For my full review visit my website...https://rckukla.wixsite.com/robisbookee/home/review-walk-on-earth-a-stranger-by-rae-carson