A review by billyjepma
Lone Women by Victor LaValle

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

4.0

A very good book with very, very good writing. It doesn’t all come together—the ending is a little glossy for my taste, and the genre elements don’t quite mesh with the historical fiction as cohesively as I hoped—but LaValle’s writing and characterizations are so sharply nuanced and textured that I was always invested in the story, even if I never felt compelled to rush back to it—which is why it took me a month to finish it. If anything, I wish it had been longer. With some more space to explore the setting, enrich the character dynamics, and delve into the themes, I could see the story becoming something really immersive. But as it is, LaValle accomplishes a lot in under 300 pages and delivers another tonal masterpiece that strikes a nearly perfect balance between the various genre, thematic, historical, and even political edges it’s engaged with. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings