Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Banitka

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Banitka by Anna North

55 reviews

lovejasmine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The biggest problem with this book is that it could have been so much better than it was. It could have been so inclusive and intersectional and diverse, and could have been a beautiful, in depth story of marginalised people coming together in a world that hates them.

Instead, we got the barest hint of that, with a very self centred, very white narrator that was, honestly, kind of boring.

The worst thing about this book was it wasn't bad. It just could have been incredible.

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wizardingwisteria's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I initially rated this at 5 stars because of how much I loved the world building, but after taking some time to process I think this is closer to a 4.5. The world building is immaculate. This author nails the western vibe right on the head, but looking back I wish the characters were a bit better

The world in combination with the writing style and plot made this such an enjoyable read for me. At first the writing style seemed meandering and slow, but as the story began to pick up I started to appreciate Ada's perspective a lot more. The plot kept me entertained from start to finish. I loved seeing the gang execute their plans in such an organized fashion. It reminded me so much of Red Dead Redemption with the leader of the gang, the Kid, giving me flash backs to Dutch van der Linde at some points

Loved all of the representation in this book, but it could have been improved. The main character is cis and hetero but almost every member of the gang is gay and/or non-binary. There is a moment where one gang member asks Ada if she likes men and Ada considers the fact that she never saw women as an option for her. She basically shrugs and thinks to herself "maybe I like women, idk, haven't tried." Beyond that thought Ada doesn't attempt to explore her own sexuality further. I think that was a missed opportunity

A lot of the characters felt underdeveloped. Even though this book is on the shorter side, I found myself wishing that the author took more time to make the characters, the gang members specifically, more complex instead of giving them a paragraph or two of backstory and then putting them on the shelf. Ada's love interest ended up feeling flat as well which made their relationship more difficult to believe

Despite it's issues, I could see myself re-reading this in the future

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readinghavoc's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I had a really good time reading this. It felt like exactly the type of thing I needed to kickstart my end-of-year reading/get me out of a small reading slump. It was exciting to get to see so many diverse types of queerness and identity in a setting where those histories are often erased. This novel managed to get a lot done in a short space while not feeling overly rushed.

I'm really fucking upset about Lark, though. Who would have guessed I could simp so hard for a man? I'm still mourning his life with Ada in Pagosa Springs. I do wish there was more of a clear build-up to Ada being ready to take over Alice's surgery, but I also think given the pace of the book, it was still really well done.

Yay for queer cowboys!

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mals_library's review against another edition

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1.0

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sarasreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I don't know, this was much more about infertility than anything else, and the number of times they said "baby Jesus" just about did me in. It seemed like it was going to be a much more fun romp in the wild west, but it is not fun. Don't come here looking for a good time. It seemed to try to address a lot of issues without actually addressing any of them that well?

Summary:

In a baby OBSESSED old west America adjacent, if you're a woman who can't have babies, you'd better run and join a convent or a gang before they literally hang you as a witch. That's what the main character does, only somewhat successfully. She meets forgettable characters along the way and gets several of them killed or injured. In the end she's going to try and run a practice as a midwife before she gets run out of a new town. Again.

And there, I've saved you the trouble of reading it. Sweet baby Jesus.

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ka_cam's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

A fun speculative semi-historical fiction novel, reads fun and fast. Will be a hit with the queers and I think also with the type of liberal women/other readers who like books like The Power, Future Home of the Living God, or Handmaids Tale. Lots of old Wild West and post-apocalyptic tropes in new clothes. Not the deepest read but a fun one- would have liked a map in the front.

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