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A review by mackle13
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters
3.0
2.5
This is the third Cat Winters book I've read. I find her interesting as an author. I like her stories, overall, but there are issues to her writing - such as not fully developed characters, and wooden dialogue - which keeps me from really being able to get lost in her stories.
This story is sold as a retelling of Hamlet - but very loosely so. This is actually to the good. As I started reading I was worried that the story was being forced down certain lines, and things were going to be far too predictable... but the story actually really picked up once she left the rails, a bit, and branched out on her own.
More to the point, though, it's a discussion about bigotry in America. This story is written in 1920s Oregon, but is sadly still relevant to life today. Racial tension and homosexuality both play a role in a world where the KKK is not just a thing that exists, but is a strong part of government and basically controls the area.
Winters does a good enough job of making this a good story, and not just an "issues" book, but, conversely, the characters are often defined by the traits relevant to the story, and not really developed enough beyond that.
If Winters had developed the characters a bit more, and if her writing developed a bit more panache and polish - and didn't feel quite so wooden and yet also modern - then she could tell a truly great story. As is, I can't quite decide whether to go 2 or 3 stars with this effort...
This is the third Cat Winters book I've read. I find her interesting as an author. I like her stories, overall, but there are issues to her writing - such as not fully developed characters, and wooden dialogue - which keeps me from really being able to get lost in her stories.
This story is sold as a retelling of Hamlet - but very loosely so. This is actually to the good. As I started reading I was worried that the story was being forced down certain lines, and things were going to be far too predictable... but the story actually really picked up once she left the rails, a bit, and branched out on her own.
More to the point, though, it's a discussion about bigotry in America. This story is written in 1920s Oregon, but is sadly still relevant to life today. Racial tension and homosexuality both play a role in a world where the KKK is not just a thing that exists, but is a strong part of government and basically controls the area.
Winters does a good enough job of making this a good story, and not just an "issues" book, but, conversely, the characters are often defined by the traits relevant to the story, and not really developed enough beyond that.
If Winters had developed the characters a bit more, and if her writing developed a bit more panache and polish - and didn't feel quite so wooden and yet also modern - then she could tell a truly great story. As is, I can't quite decide whether to go 2 or 3 stars with this effort...