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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
(The Legend of Billie Jean + Oregon Trail) X Wisconsin Death Trip. I couldn't put it down!
Talk about a 180 in genres for this author. Her other books are firmly rooted in fantasy, while this one is more historical fiction. Personally, I think Carson should stick with fantasy. I know some people will put this in the Western genre, and sure it takes place on the Oregon Trial, but the themes are pretty flimsy. Can't believe it won an award in any Western category.
It was just boring. So much potential with Lee/ah's "gift," but it wasn't put to good use. Maybe it will be in the sequel? Not sure if I'm going to go there though.
It was just boring. So much potential with Lee/ah's "gift," but it wasn't put to good use. Maybe it will be in the sequel? Not sure if I'm going to go there though.
Full disclosure, I fully expected not to like this book. This was one of those titles the publisher sent to me unsolicited. It looked interesting enough, but I wasn’t a fan of THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS so I shelved it for when I got around to it. Enter last week, when I grabbed it off the shelf thinking I was going to have another quick 50 pager and get another big book off my shelf. A week and a half later it kicked me in the teeth.
Sneaky little thing. I mean, I guess my expectations could have gotten lower, but irrespective of the bar I set for myself, this was a fantastic book. Full stop.
Lee/Leah, is an incredibly compelling character and while part of me wants to shake my fist at the “woman bucking social norms of her time” trope, here it fits. Georgia pre-Civil War isn’t exactly frontier, but it isn’t exactly not frontier either. And with a sick father and her being an only child there are things she’s going to learn out of necessity, like hunting, and field dressing an animal and generally taking care of oneself in the woods. Plus the whole gold thing.
I mean, you did see that not everyone was like Leah, especially when she went into town and the bitchy girls made fun of her for her dress and her calloused hands and whatnot. So the dichotomy was there, but it wasn’t as prevalent. It was even less prevalent when Leah left home and started on her journey west.
It was rather gut-wrenching to watch Leah literally cut away her life before she left in order to evade her uncle for as long as possible. And then the pitfalls she hit getting to Independence, Missouri. And the time lapsing. I think Carson was exceptional at this. I think people today have a hard time really comprehending how big the US really is, and it couldn’t have seemed bigger than to the people who were traversing across it practically blind. Carson was good with distance and time and space and encompassing that into her writing and making her characters feel whole and full and alive and at the same time these little specks of dust traveling across a broad open land.
And she certainly did her research. Everything felt alive, even the barren desert as the train crossed it. Everything felt real and risky and rewarding and thrilling and terrifying as it happened. The trip starts off so easy, but gold can’t stay. Even in this world. Where everyone had their place in the wagons, the women doing womanly things, children being children, Leah being Lee, that all dissolves as the complacency of the train dissolves. Cholera hits, then measles, dehydration, accidents. The only thing I think was missing in all of that, now that I’m thinking about it, was altitude sickness as they made their way across Colorado and Utah, but I’m not sure that would have necessarily stood out against everything else they were dealing with.
And the desert? Man, did I feel that one. I’m coming up on year seven living in Arizona and I felt the heat as I read it. Tasted the dust. Remembered that blooming heat sickness as it took me over when I first got here. And I had the luxury of readily available water and air conditioning. I can’t even imagine what crossing the high desert and clean through Nevada would have been like back then, when the desert and the nothing and the baking seemed endless. Carson did an amazing job of portraying that.
I liked how she handled the Natives, not shying away from how horrible people were to them. There’s certainly a white-washing that tends to happen with these kinds of books, but that didn’t happen here. Especially now, I don’t think I need to reiterate just how awful the colonists were (I guess they’re not colonists at this point, but they are? just don’t know what else to call them) to the Natives, and completely unprovoked too. I also liked the rainbow of people Carson had in Leah’s wagon train. So many walks of life, from the crappy Missouri men who made it a sport of harassing the Natives, to the Joyners who broke out a dining table and ate at it every night. To the confirmed bachelors making their way out west to be free to be themselves. So many different people all looking for the same thing, even though they may take different paths to get there.
The only real complaint I had about WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER was the over-mentioning of people having to take care of their needs or necessities. I get it. We’re dealing with human beings that have to deal with bodily functions. The reader doesn’t need to be reminded of that multiple times a chapter. The cholera and dehydration and field amputation and terror of losing a child all exemplify just how human everyone is. Don’t need to know every time they go off to take a poop.
But this book was great, like to the point where I’m actually keeping it in my library and I really want the next one. Because while this book did have a clean, solid ending, there’s so much more to go in Leah’s story and I want more of it.
4.5
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion.
Sneaky little thing. I mean, I guess my expectations could have gotten lower, but irrespective of the bar I set for myself, this was a fantastic book. Full stop.
Lee/Leah, is an incredibly compelling character and while part of me wants to shake my fist at the “woman bucking social norms of her time” trope, here it fits. Georgia pre-Civil War isn’t exactly frontier, but it isn’t exactly not frontier either. And with a sick father and her being an only child there are things she’s going to learn out of necessity, like hunting, and field dressing an animal and generally taking care of oneself in the woods. Plus the whole gold thing.
I mean, you did see that not everyone was like Leah, especially when she went into town and the bitchy girls made fun of her for her dress and her calloused hands and whatnot. So the dichotomy was there, but it wasn’t as prevalent. It was even less prevalent when Leah left home and started on her journey west.
It was rather gut-wrenching to watch Leah literally cut away her life before she left in order to evade her uncle for as long as possible. And then the pitfalls she hit getting to Independence, Missouri. And the time lapsing. I think Carson was exceptional at this. I think people today have a hard time really comprehending how big the US really is, and it couldn’t have seemed bigger than to the people who were traversing across it practically blind. Carson was good with distance and time and space and encompassing that into her writing and making her characters feel whole and full and alive and at the same time these little specks of dust traveling across a broad open land.
And she certainly did her research. Everything felt alive, even the barren desert as the train crossed it. Everything felt real and risky and rewarding and thrilling and terrifying as it happened. The trip starts off so easy, but gold can’t stay. Even in this world. Where everyone had their place in the wagons, the women doing womanly things, children being children, Leah being Lee, that all dissolves as the complacency of the train dissolves. Cholera hits, then measles, dehydration, accidents. The only thing I think was missing in all of that, now that I’m thinking about it, was altitude sickness as they made their way across Colorado and Utah, but I’m not sure that would have necessarily stood out against everything else they were dealing with.
And the desert? Man, did I feel that one. I’m coming up on year seven living in Arizona and I felt the heat as I read it. Tasted the dust. Remembered that blooming heat sickness as it took me over when I first got here. And I had the luxury of readily available water and air conditioning. I can’t even imagine what crossing the high desert and clean through Nevada would have been like back then, when the desert and the nothing and the baking seemed endless. Carson did an amazing job of portraying that.
I liked how she handled the Natives, not shying away from how horrible people were to them. There’s certainly a white-washing that tends to happen with these kinds of books, but that didn’t happen here. Especially now, I don’t think I need to reiterate just how awful the colonists were (I guess they’re not colonists at this point, but they are? just don’t know what else to call them) to the Natives, and completely unprovoked too. I also liked the rainbow of people Carson had in Leah’s wagon train. So many walks of life, from the crappy Missouri men who made it a sport of harassing the Natives, to the Joyners who broke out a dining table and ate at it every night. To the confirmed bachelors making their way out west to be free to be themselves. So many different people all looking for the same thing, even though they may take different paths to get there.
The only real complaint I had about WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER was the over-mentioning of people having to take care of their needs or necessities. I get it. We’re dealing with human beings that have to deal with bodily functions. The reader doesn’t need to be reminded of that multiple times a chapter. The cholera and dehydration and field amputation and terror of losing a child all exemplify just how human everyone is. Don’t need to know every time they go off to take a poop.
But this book was great, like to the point where I’m actually keeping it in my library and I really want the next one. Because while this book did have a clean, solid ending, there’s so much more to go in Leah’s story and I want more of it.
4.5
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion.
I thoroughly enjoyed this juvenile fiction story of a teen girl's participation in the California gold rush. The story VERY briefly touches on the racism of the time - both the subordination of blacks and the tensions between whites and the natives - but mostly tells the tale of a girl who faces hardships, works hard, and learns a lot about people. There is this little bit of magic in that Lee can "sense" the presence of gold (which motivates the plot) but aside from that it's good historical fiction.
One of my favorites this year. A riveting tale with memorable characters who are realistic enough to make mistakes and screw things up (always a plus). Lots of feminist power with women struggling against very realistic historical bias and a riveting and dangerous trek westward during the California gold rush. There's a touch of magic to add some interesting twists but this is by no means high fantasy.
3.5-3.75 stars
I must agree with some reviewers that the beginning half of this bookif not the entire novel seemed to lack a plot aside from running away. Still after the slowness that was the first two chapters I found myself enjoying Lee's adventure immensely- still I'm wondering how the next one will continue considering this could've been perfectly finished right here. I'm sure Uncle Hiram will stir up some trouble. All in all the characters were enjoyable and I'm interested to see what happens next!
I must agree with some reviewers that the beginning half of this book
Star Rating: 3.5 - 4 Stars
As a premise the idea behind this trilogy couldn't be more unique. Set in the 1840's a young girl, whose whole family gets murdered, sets out with her best friend to find gold in California. Oh and by the way, she can scry for gold with just a thought. But even though the idea is incredibly unique the story line fumbles to find a clear foothold. If it wasn't for Rae Carson's eloquent writing this story could very well have flat lined completely. There is a total lack of action and an overabundance of description. But because I love Ms. Carson's writing style so much I found myself wrapped in the story regardless. I have all my fingers and toes crossed that the next novel in this series will be even better then the first.
As a premise the idea behind this trilogy couldn't be more unique. Set in the 1840's a young girl, whose whole family gets murdered, sets out with her best friend to find gold in California. Oh and by the way, she can scry for gold with just a thought. But even though the idea is incredibly unique the story line fumbles to find a clear foothold. If it wasn't for Rae Carson's eloquent writing this story could very well have flat lined completely. There is a total lack of action and an overabundance of description. But because I love Ms. Carson's writing style so much I found myself wrapped in the story regardless. I have all my fingers and toes crossed that the next novel in this series will be even better then the first.
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Basic Info
Format: Audio
Pages/Length: Around 11hrs
Genre: Young Adult; Historical Fiction
Reason For Reading: Cover.
At A Glance
Love Triangle/Insta Love/Obsession?: No
Cliff Hanger: No
Triggers: n/a
Rating: 3.5 stars
Score Sheet
All out of ten
Cover: 9
Plot: 8
Characters: 8
World Building: 8
Flow: 7
Series Congruity: n/a
Writing: 7
Ending: 7
Total: 8
In Depth
Best Part: The narrator!
Worst Part: Dragged in places
Thoughts Had: Gold! I found me some gold!
Conclusion
Continuing the Series: Yes
Recommending: Yes
Short Review: First, i must applaud this book for mentioning the MC's monthly bleed, too many books ignore it altogether and that bothers me. Secondly, the narrator did an awesome job. I liked the story, it greatly reminded me of the game "Oregon Trial". I really liked the MC, she dresses as a boy to get away from her uncle, which i fully support considering what he did. Her special power of finding gold is really going to help in Cali! The scene with the woman giving birth, and the fear she had of dying, really got to me, we are really blessed now with all the medical advances. Also, the fact that they didn't want to name the baby til it was 1 in case it died, not okay, too many feels there.
Misc.
Book Boyfriend: Pass.
Best Friend Material: The MC!
It's like my childhood PC game "Oregon Trail" came to life but I was a kick-ass tomboy who could sense gold. SO GOOD.
But...you can't call me out for it.
I loved this story, loved the trope, and loved the historical fiction.