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seventhswan's review
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
WOW. A real standout book, probably the best I've read this year so far. The Writing Style with its random Capitalisation & occasional use of Abbreviations may have been controversial among reviewers but I thought it was an excellent choice and really helped me feel immersed in the setting and Yip's thoughts.
A list of things I loved about this book: the friendship between Yip and Dud Carter. A very visibly disabled main character who drinks, has sex, and gets in fights. Extremely lovable side characters. The sense of adventure, tension, and foreboding. A violent and sometimes gory Western that manages to never stoop to gratuitous sexual violence. Black and Native American characters that are actual characters and not just stereotypes, without erasing the horrific violence of slavery and racism. A really compelling and exciting plot!
Honestly, this is one of the best books I've read with a disabled main character and it isn't even trying to be about disability or ableism. It is very much genre fiction - it's a Western, it has most of the tropes you'd expect of one. I actually chose it because I enjoyed Patrick de Witt's The Sisters Brothers and wondered if that might extend to other Westerns. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good adventure and wants to feel every feeling, though! The ending was slightly devastating to me, but it made sense, and if there's ever a sequel I'll be all over it.
A list of things I loved about this book: the friendship between Yip and Dud Carter. A very visibly disabled main character who drinks, has sex, and gets in fights. Extremely lovable side characters. The sense of adventure, tension, and foreboding. A violent and sometimes gory Western that manages to never stoop to gratuitous sexual violence. Black and Native American characters that are actual characters and not just stereotypes, without erasing the horrific violence of slavery and racism. A really compelling and exciting plot!
Honestly, this is one of the best books I've read with a disabled main character and it isn't even trying to be about disability or ableism. It is very much genre fiction - it's a Western, it has most of the tropes you'd expect of one. I actually chose it because I enjoyed Patrick de Witt's The Sisters Brothers and wondered if that might extend to other Westerns. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good adventure and wants to feel every feeling, though! The ending was slightly devastating to me, but it made sense, and if there's ever a sequel I'll be all over it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Alcohol
THEY DID IT! THEY MADE A DARK AND VIOLENT WESTERN WITHOUT ANY SEXUAL VIOLENCE!paperbackpoets's review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty
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