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A review by labunnywtf
Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen
4.0
Nettie Lonesome had two things in the world that were worth a sweet goddamn: her old boots and her one-eyed mule, Blue. Neither item actually belonged to her. But then again, nothing did.
I liked this book SO much more than I thought I would. Damn.
This is a western, which means it already started in the negative. It was Jes's pick for the Quarterly Book Club's winter quarter, and I love those ladies, so I was going to read it no matter what.
And godDAMN. I did not expect what I got from a book that involves the world 'feller'.
Nettie is a half black, half Native American girl living in Durango, which Google tells me is the Colorado area of the 'old west'. Raised by two of the most abominable people, she knows what it is to be treated as less than. Less than because of her gender, less than because of her poverty, less than because of her skin color. It's just how life is for her.
Until the night a man tries to kill her. And she stabs him, and he turns to sand.
I read this description, and it did not even remotely occur to me what happened. And I'm making eye contact with my fandom besties, because you are all probably staring at me like the dufus that I am.
This is the start of Nettie's life. And every supernatural creature in the handbook comes out to play. Because once you kill one of them, you see all of them.
Nettie is a phenomenal character. She lives her life as a boy not only to protect herself, but because she feels more boy than woman. And that's just the tip of the diversity iceberg here? There are so many factors in play here, and for a book set during the time period where 'injun' was a normalized word, it's HUGE.
Nettie teams up with the rangers to hunt these creatures. The rangers known for murdering Native Americans and lord knows who else. But there's so many layers to the history we know. Lila Bowen admits she may not be 100% historically accurate, which is good to know since I'll never know the difference. But there's so many, "AH HA" moments where history and supernatural fantasy line up and it is just absolutely tickling.
The strength of this character will get you through any slow bits. The different characters, and the character growth, are so well done, this is so well written despite the westernized language. Seriously, the number of 'what in the Sam Hill's you will be subjected to. But it's so worth it. There is heart, there is an incredible message under laid throughout.
I honestly cannot believe how much I enjoyed this book. And I'm annoyed that my library only has the second book in the series. Time to harass them for the rest.
I liked this book SO much more than I thought I would. Damn.
This is a western, which means it already started in the negative. It was Jes's pick for the Quarterly Book Club's winter quarter, and I love those ladies, so I was going to read it no matter what.
And godDAMN. I did not expect what I got from a book that involves the world 'feller'.
Nettie is a half black, half Native American girl living in Durango, which Google tells me is the Colorado area of the 'old west'. Raised by two of the most abominable people, she knows what it is to be treated as less than. Less than because of her gender, less than because of her poverty, less than because of her skin color. It's just how life is for her.
Until the night a man tries to kill her. And she stabs him, and he turns to sand.
I read this description, and it did not even remotely occur to me what happened. And I'm making eye contact with my fandom besties, because you are all probably staring at me like the dufus that I am.
This is the start of Nettie's life. And every supernatural creature in the handbook comes out to play. Because once you kill one of them, you see all of them.
Nettie is a phenomenal character. She lives her life as a boy not only to protect herself, but because she feels more boy than woman. And that's just the tip of the diversity iceberg here? There are so many factors in play here, and for a book set during the time period where 'injun' was a normalized word, it's HUGE.
Nettie teams up with the rangers to hunt these creatures. The rangers known for murdering Native Americans and lord knows who else. But there's so many layers to the history we know. Lila Bowen admits she may not be 100% historically accurate, which is good to know since I'll never know the difference. But there's so many, "AH HA" moments where history and supernatural fantasy line up and it is just absolutely tickling.
The strength of this character will get you through any slow bits. The different characters, and the character growth, are so well done, this is so well written despite the westernized language. Seriously, the number of 'what in the Sam Hill's you will be subjected to. But it's so worth it. There is heart, there is an incredible message under laid throughout.
I honestly cannot believe how much I enjoyed this book. And I'm annoyed that my library only has the second book in the series. Time to harass them for the rest.