idlersden's review against another edition
4.0
Turns out he didn’t say ‘Such is Life’
Who knew?! How many tattoos and bumper stickers are out there right now, if only they knew.
Very well researched book. Taught me a lot about my own regions history of the time period, and set me off on an excursion to find the old homesteads.
Who knew?! How many tattoos and bumper stickers are out there right now, if only they knew.
Very well researched book. Taught me a lot about my own regions history of the time period, and set me off on an excursion to find the old homesteads.
black_hellebore_reviews's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. Interesting style to present information and above all is an interpretation on the facts that we have at hand. Not an autobiography.
clarrry's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Really fascinating to read about Kate, who is often overlooked when talking about the Kelly gang. I will dock .5 of a star as this is more historical fiction than biographical, however I understand there probably isn't enough reliable information on her to flesh out an entirely factual book. A mesmerising look into her life nonetheless.
balloyd92's review against another edition
4.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Kate Kelly is an endlessly fascinating historical character, and I'm so glad she finally has her own book. Wilson clearly did A LOT of diligent research, and I actually really enjoy how she draws on oral histories as well as written ones. As a broad concept, this book is excellent.
However, I struggled with some of the details. The chapters and chapter sections should have been significantly rearranged in my opinion, and there were some abrupt transitions. I also felt like the sentence structure could have been tighter and more direct (there was a lot of passive voice and it distracted from the story).
Finally, despite its name, I still felt like Kate was overshadowed by her brothers and the rest of the Kelly gang. It was less apparent in the first section, but the second section was very much dominated by Ned Kelly. I know it's hard to write about the Kellys without mentioning him, but I really wanted Kate to be the star of the book, and it just didn't deliver for me in that regard.
All that said, it's a great introduction to Kate's life and was very useful for me in my research. I'd probably give it a 3.5, but also think it's well worth reading, so rounded up in this case.
However, I struggled with some of the details. The chapters and chapter sections should have been significantly rearranged in my opinion, and there were some abrupt transitions. I also felt like the sentence structure could have been tighter and more direct (there was a lot of passive voice and it distracted from the story).
Finally, despite its name, I still felt like Kate was overshadowed by her brothers and the rest of the Kelly gang. It was less apparent in the first section, but the second section was very much dominated by Ned Kelly. I know it's hard to write about the Kellys without mentioning him, but I really wanted Kate to be the star of the book, and it just didn't deliver for me in that regard.
All that said, it's a great introduction to Kate's life and was very useful for me in my research. I'd probably give it a 3.5, but also think it's well worth reading, so rounded up in this case.
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