A review by kaitbreads
Outlawed by Anna North

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Song Pairing: Desperado - The Eagles

Outlawed circles around Ada, who is forced to flea her hometown after a year of marriage and no children. She and other barren women are labeled as witches and are hanged when they cannot conceive. Instead of facing the town's wrath, she carves out her own path and joins up with the notorious Hole in the Wall gang, led by the Kid. 

I was so excited for this book, the premise sounded SO great, but it ultimately fell flat in my opinion. I loved the setting and the book immediately transported you back into the wild west. The story is set in an alternate timeline where half the US was wiped out by the flu. Super cool and I love the world that was constructed. 

Let's talk about the characters. I loved the representation, Ada finds herself in the Hole in the Wall gang, a band of queer and gender-fluid women who have formed their own community after being outcast by their town. I loved exploring how they fought against the patriarchy and did what they wanted to do. I also thought they deserved more. I honestly did not really care for many of them, and this was a very character driven story. They were fun, but I wanted more backstory and development. For awhile, I couldn't keep any of them straight because they only had a few defining characteristics. 

Lastly, I am really bothered by how many loose ends there are. The book cycled through many issues (race, feminism, mental illness) but never fully fleshed them out. Overall, nothing felt truly complete, and I feel like the if the book was longer, it would have been so much better with things being more developed. I would 100% watch this if it was ever made into a show, it was a fun and entertaining read but was missing a few things for me.

Content warning: infertility, gun violence, murder, suicidal thoughts, mental illness, misogyny, sexual violence
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