A review by starnosedmole
The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

2.0

Although Cat Winters is one of my favorite YA authors, this retelling of Hamlet in 1920s Oregon seemed overly ambitious. While fascinating to read about the eugenics and Prohibition movements, especially as told through the eyes of a biracial female protagonist, too much is crammed in. Character development is weakened in favor of keeping the plot moving. What is kept and what is abandoned from Hamlet seemed selected purely to turn the novel into more of an "issue book."