Reviews with content warning for Blood - River of Teeth

I've read only three so far, but I think Sarah Gailey's books are in a class all their own. Rollicking and funny
speculative fiction, they're *really*
entertaining. The first one I read, Upright Women Wanted, was about traveling Librarians (capitalized) running an underground railroad of sorts in the Wild West. This time, Gailey's tale is based on a real life What If - what if, in 1910, hippos really had been imported to be bred for meat in the swamps of the Mississippi River? (Yes, this almost really happened.)

Hippopotamuses might look fairly docile and sluggish but they're really fast and they can be really vicious. It's one thing if a hopper (like a cowboy but ... not) has hand fed a baby hippo so it's a devoted domesticated beast, but what about the ones that get away and no breed, and breed, and breed till their offspring are feral?

This tightly-packed novella gives us a handful of rascally scoundrels who come together to gradually remove the ferals from the huge lake where their population has exploded. The man with the plan, though, thinks he can make a fast buck by evacuating the ferals quickly - but as with most plans, things don't go the way he'd hoped. He's gathered the fastest gun in the West, a demolitions expert, an assassin, and a fast-talking thief up against the villain who owns the lake and who wants the feral hippos right where they are.

It's a fabulous story and I'm about to embark on the second half in the sequel, Taste of Marrow.

Content Warnings

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

How is it possible for me to love one author so much, another Sarah Gailey book that I loved. This was absolutely wild and full of rollicking Western fun but with hippos! I know it’s a novella so short but I still read the whole thing in one sitting (it’s about double the length I would usually do in one sitting). I am craving more books with the exact energy/vibes that the Hero/Houndstooth relationship has, good god I need more of that in my veins, it was GLORIOUS. The FLIRTING. This is the shit!!! 🙌

Content warnings: death, animal death, gore/blood, violence, torture, murder, pregnancy

Content Warnings

teachertroitsky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

Did you know that In 1909, the United States was suffering a shortage of meat, while at the same time, Louisiana's waterways were being choked by invasive water hyacinth? Louisiana Congressman Robert F. Broussard proposed an ingenious solution to both those problems: Import hippos to eat the water hyacinth; then, eat the hippos. This novel is a thrilling ride into the alternative history of what might have emerged if this plan was actually implemented. I did not know if I would like the book. I usually don't read alternate history stories. I loved the atmosphere and dimensions of Gailey's world, characters, the story and just everything! I could not put it down. Absolutely fabulous story telling in a most original re-imagining of alternate history.

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