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xangemthelibrarian's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Gun violence
lisaluvsliterature's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.5
This was another book sent to me by the publisher for the Gateway Readers Award committee that I’m on. I really liked this one. It was a historical time and a culture that I didn’t know a lot about. It was set during the time of the American railroad expansion and how the Chinese came over and helped with so much of it. It also had some parts actually back in China, talking about when they bound girl’s feet so they would be more attractive to the men. While for the most part there wasn’t anything surprising in the story, it definitely had a lot of things I didn’t know or realize in details about that time period. Definitely recommend this one!
libscote's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
After the death of her twin, Tam Ling Fan disguises herself as a boy to work on the Transcontinental Railroad in the United States. There, she will earn the money necessary to get her father out of jail. Yee does a good job of explaining the dangers and hardships that railroad workers went through at that time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Medical content, and Racial slurs
miss_alaina's review
3.0
I had extremely high expectations going into this book and ended up disappointed. I don't normally pick up historical fiction, but this book gave me Hell on Wheels vibes, so I couldn't resist.
While I think this story could've been interesting, Betty G. Yee's writing didn't work for me, and that ruined my enjoyment of the entire book. First of all, the writing was way too simplistic for YA. I don't know if Yee has written other books before, but Gold Mountain very much read like a first attempt at writing for a YA audience - like the author thought everything had to be dumbed down a bit for a younger audience. The end result was that this book was just plain boring.
Right from page one I had an issue with the third-person perspective, which made me feel so disconnected from Ling Fan. We are told about her feelings and thoughts in superficial ways rather than experiencing them through her point of view. Ling Fan is dealing with a tremendous amount of emotions but, rather than exploring those, we're told simple descriptions like "she had a knot in her stomach".
If you're looking for good YA historical fiction, I highly recommend Ruta Sepetys, Stacey Lee (although Luck of the Titanic was a letdown), and the Vengeance Road series by Erin Bowman.
While I think this story could've been interesting, Betty G. Yee's writing didn't work for me, and that ruined my enjoyment of the entire book. First of all, the writing was way too simplistic for YA. I don't know if Yee has written other books before, but Gold Mountain very much read like a first attempt at writing for a YA audience - like the author thought everything had to be dumbed down a bit for a younger audience. The end result was that this book was just plain boring.
Right from page one I had an issue with the third-person perspective, which made me feel so disconnected from Ling Fan. We are told about her feelings and thoughts in superficial ways rather than experiencing them through her point of view. Ling Fan is dealing with a tremendous amount of emotions but, rather than exploring those, we're told simple descriptions like "she had a knot in her stomach".
If you're looking for good YA historical fiction, I highly recommend Ruta Sepetys, Stacey Lee (although Luck of the Titanic was a letdown), and the Vengeance Road series by Erin Bowman.
gretel7's review against another edition
2.25
An okay read which was interesting only for the history it contains. The characters were rather single sided and I didn't connect with them.
critter's review against another edition
3.0
This is another book that it is me and not the book. I have been in a bit of a book slump, and it was just likely the wrong time for me to read this. The book felt a bit slow paced and drawn out a bit, which is about the only drawback about this book I can think of. The writing is great and interesting. The characters are well written and dynamic. It covers a very interesting period of history and discusses some the racism that was present in the time period it is set in. This was a well written historical fiction.
I would like to thank Lerner Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC.
I would like to thank Lerner Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC.