Reviews

Gold Mountain provides us with a glimpse of the lives of Chinese laborers who worked on the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860's through the eyes of Tam Ling Fan. Following her brother's death, Tam Ling Fan disguises herself as her brother and takes his railroad contract to America, marking the beginning of her journey to earn enough money to secure her father's freedom.

While the plot of Gold Mountain is slightly predictable, Gold Mountain hit all the right notes for me, being a fast-paced YA historical novel with a fierce female protagonist. Don't let the YA label fool you -- I learned so much about the Transcontinental Railroad from Gold Mountain, such as how two railroad companies, the Central Pacific Railroad Company and the Union Pacific Railroad Company, were pitted against each other in the race to finish first. More importantly, I learned about the impact of the Transcontinental Railroad on the lives of Chinese laborers and indigenous peoples. I think it's safe to say that Gold Mountain is a must-read YA new release.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher, Carolrhoda Lab ®, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

xangemthelibrarian's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

It's very well-researched, there's a lot of complicated motivations in participating in the building of the transcontinental railroad, subterfuge, blackmail, and a lot of explosions, injuries, and action. Tam Ling Fan is.... Kind of a dumb protagonist in the sense that I wanted to slap her upside the head every time she'd continue to let Wong Wei take advantage of her.

And while I think that there is a LOT to like about this story, the biggest reason it took me nearly a MONTH to finish this book is because the writing is So. Incredibly. Dry.

A lot of super interesting and dangerous things happen to Ling, and she gets involved in this super sticky plot of trying to save Wong Wei, keep her gender secret, and also get paid to sabotage AND progress the railroad line she's working on. It should be interesting! This plot is something that should've pulled me in, but instead reading this felt like counting the tiny holes in a ceiling tile at school.

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