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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
Serendipity Jones is officially one of my favorite heroine names. This book is like a western mixed with modern day and I loved it. It was a great story and a quick read!
I really liked this book!! It was something new entirely. It's about a girl in a modern western time. When her father wants to send her away to another town, so she can be some strangers wife with the sole purpose of getting children, she runs away with her best friend.
When I was well over halfway I did began to worry when the action would come. It did become a bit boring and I kinda lost the plot line. But that was all forgotten when the finale did start!!!
I loved it as a stand alone and I would read a part two, if it ever came out. I do reccomend everyone to read it!
When I was well over halfway I did began to worry when the action would come. It did become a bit boring and I kinda lost the plot line. But that was all forgotten when the finale did start!!!
I loved it as a stand alone and I would read a part two, if it ever came out. I do reccomend everyone to read it!
A fun twist on Annie Oakley. The town of Cessation sits on the edge of lawlessness and Pity lands there as an escape from her commune life. Once in Cessation she is drawn into Miss Selene's Theater which is technically a good place to be because it means there are other people watching Pity's back, but also not exactly ideal as the Cirque-du-soleil-esque performances require Pity to kill.
Gunslinger Girl was a good read, not great, but fun with an interesting world. Miss Selene was my favorite character and I wish she had been the star of the show instead of Pity.
Gunslinger Girl was a good read, not great, but fun with an interesting world. Miss Selene was my favorite character and I wish she had been the star of the show instead of Pity.
I went into this book with notions of wild west shoot outs, but what I got was so much more. What I got was so different from what I was expecting, that I loved it so much more than I originally thought I would.
The characters, all of them, are in this morally gray area, and it makes for such fun outcomes. The world was creative, and I cannot wait for more from Lyndsay Ely.
The characters, all of them, are in this morally gray area, and it makes for such fun outcomes. The world was creative, and I cannot wait for more from Lyndsay Ely.
GIVE ME A SEQUEL NOW!
Given this books ending, I can totally see one in the future. But if not, break my heart why don't you?
I need to get my thoughts in order but I will say now that was an incredible debut novel.
Given this books ending, I can totally see one in the future. But if not, break my heart why don't you?
I need to get my thoughts in order but I will say now that was an incredible debut novel.
I totally enjoyed reading this book! It was such an entertaining, fast-paced read that had me hooked from the first couple chapters I read in the bookstore that I had to go back and read the rest.
Pity is such a cool character, and although I couldn't relate to her very much, I enjoyed reading about her. It's like Katniss Everdeen--you like reading about her badassery, but you can't really relate because you know if you were in the book, you'd be Servant #3 or something so extraneous that you're not even written about. Pity was so interesting though, and I liked the nuanced complexity to her emotions, even with the romance added in.
Max, the romantic interest, is a pretty classic case of Mysterious Boy™, but there's more to him than what meets the eye and I really hope there's a sequel so I can unravel more of his mystery! His relationship with Pity was interesting and enough to keep me engaged--which was more than I could say for many other YA romances. I wasn't super hard SHIP SHIP SHIP but I thought they were cute together.
But the highlight of this book lay in the plot. Because it was so damn entertaining. Pity has to deal with morality issues (killing bad people in a showy manner) as well as the growing conspiracy happening in Cessation and the mysterious bad guy who's threatening Selene's reign. I liked both the mystery (who is this bad guy?) and action (fight scenes! civilians scattering! guns blazing!) which proved to mix very well with this Western-feeling dystopian setting.
It was interesting and felt like a tech-y Wild West, which was really cool and unique. The book was paced well and I liked how it paired with the aforementioned atmosphere to create a very novel concept for the reader that felt interesting rather than another overused SFF setting.
I did think the book was a little foggy in its premise and I'm still kind of confused on the politics going on. I got the very basics--CONA bad, Selene good--but setting up the premise was kind of confusing to me. What was the war about? Who are the patriots? What's going on in Colombia? What about the corporations, like Drakos-Pryce? I understood the basics of the book well enough, but I feel like the overall world's situation was a little too foggy for me and I think it could have used more exposition woven in. This was where that .5 star got chopped off.
Overall, this was a very entertaining novel and I definitely enjoyed! I would recommend it to anyone looking for a SFF or action that will keep you entertained with a unique atmosphere not commonly found in YA!
Pity is such a cool character, and although I couldn't relate to her very much, I enjoyed reading about her. It's like Katniss Everdeen--you like reading about her badassery, but you can't really relate because you know if you were in the book, you'd be Servant #3 or something so extraneous that you're not even written about. Pity was so interesting though, and I liked the nuanced complexity to her emotions, even with the romance added in.
Max, the romantic interest, is a pretty classic case of Mysterious Boy™, but there's more to him than what meets the eye and I really hope there's a sequel so I can unravel more of his mystery! His relationship with Pity was interesting and enough to keep me engaged--which was more than I could say for many other YA romances. I wasn't super hard SHIP SHIP SHIP but I thought they were cute together.
But the highlight of this book lay in the plot. Because it was so damn entertaining. Pity has to deal with morality issues (killing bad people in a showy manner) as well as the growing conspiracy happening in Cessation and the mysterious bad guy who's threatening Selene's reign. I liked both the mystery (who is this bad guy?) and action (fight scenes! civilians scattering! guns blazing!) which proved to mix very well with this Western-feeling dystopian setting.
It was interesting and felt like a tech-y Wild West, which was really cool and unique. The book was paced well and I liked how it paired with the aforementioned atmosphere to create a very novel concept for the reader that felt interesting rather than another overused SFF setting.
I did think the book was a little foggy in its premise and I'm still kind of confused on the politics going on. I got the very basics--CONA bad, Selene good--but setting up the premise was kind of confusing to me. What was the war about? Who are the patriots? What's going on in Colombia? What about the corporations, like Drakos-Pryce? I understood the basics of the book well enough, but I feel like the overall world's situation was a little too foggy for me and I think it could have used more exposition woven in. This was where that .5 star got chopped off.
Overall, this was a very entertaining novel and I definitely enjoyed! I would recommend it to anyone looking for a SFF or action that will keep you entertained with a unique atmosphere not commonly found in YA!
I love westerns so I was really excited for this futuristic throwback to the Old West. The world building of a dystopian wild west was really intriguing and I loved the characters, especially the main character of Pity. She was very badass and she showed a lot of growth through the book. The book was fast paced and impossible to put down.
Pity was tired of the way she was treated at home, abused by her father and seen as almost worthless by him and her brothers since she was a girl. She had only one friend and they had plans to escape together when her father announced his plans to marry Pity off. She met many great, interesting characters along her way to and in Cessation, along with plenty of action where she got to show off her skills as an excellent sharpshooter. She would be someone that anyone would want by their side during a gun fight. I loved seeing her learn to open up to trusting new people and struggle with huge decisions.
There were so many great characters that I found myself getting invested in and I wanted to know more about them. The more Pity got to know them, the more interesting the dynamics got. Some standouts were Max, the love interest; Finn, Pity's best friend; and Selene, the city's ruler.
The book was fast paced, as mentioned, and there was plenty of action. It didn't take long to get lost in the pages and the politics and setting of Cessation reminded me a bit of the Capitol in the Hunger Games. There was a good balance between moments of friendship and lightness, and the ruthlessness expected from a western in a dystopian setting. This book has definitely made me excited to see what Lyndsay Ely comes out with next.
*I received a copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music in exchange for an honest review.
Pity was tired of the way she was treated at home, abused by her father and seen as almost worthless by him and her brothers since she was a girl. She had only one friend and they had plans to escape together when her father announced his plans to marry Pity off. She met many great, interesting characters along her way to and in Cessation, along with plenty of action where she got to show off her skills as an excellent sharpshooter. She would be someone that anyone would want by their side during a gun fight. I loved seeing her learn to open up to trusting new people and struggle with huge decisions.
There were so many great characters that I found myself getting invested in and I wanted to know more about them. The more Pity got to know them, the more interesting the dynamics got. Some standouts were Max, the love interest; Finn, Pity's best friend; and Selene, the city's ruler.
The book was fast paced, as mentioned, and there was plenty of action. It didn't take long to get lost in the pages and the politics and setting of Cessation reminded me a bit of the Capitol in the Hunger Games. There was a good balance between moments of friendship and lightness, and the ruthlessness expected from a western in a dystopian setting. This book has definitely made me excited to see what Lyndsay Ely comes out with next.
*I received a copy of this book from Indigo Books & Music in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
This was definitely enjoyable but it didn't blow me away. At times, it felt like reading pieces of other books combined to make this new one. It felt a little like The Hunger Games and Caraval and Vengeance Road at times, which sounds like it would be awesome but really just felt not entirely original. Which is weird for something that sounds like it would be super unique from its summary. To be clear, I did enjoy it and I really ended up liking several of the supporting characters. But the romance was also a little troublesome for me. I think this part particularly is my problem and not necessarily that of the book but I just wasn't on board with it and how it developed. Also, I tend to not enjoy books that have one character running everything that everyone else just seems to obey no matter what and I wasn't a huge fan of Caraval so definitely take those pieces of information into account when deciding if this one might work for you.
I think this is definitely one that some people will love. And I can understand why they would. There's a lot of action and high stakes and a circus-like show and interesting characters. For me, it started out really strong and then hit the middle and struggled with pacing and the other things I've mentioned already. And again, I did enjoy it but it just won't be one that makes it to my re-read and must buy everyone I know bookshelves.
I think this is definitely one that some people will love. And I can understand why they would. There's a lot of action and high stakes and a circus-like show and interesting characters. For me, it started out really strong and then hit the middle and struggled with pacing and the other things I've mentioned already. And again, I did enjoy it but it just won't be one that makes it to my re-read and must buy everyone I know bookshelves.