The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
chasingpages1's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Blood, Mental illness, Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Infertility, Gun violence, Misogyny, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Alcohol, Death, Infidelity, Police brutality, and Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Abortion, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Cancer, Outing, and Gaslighting
rachealcroucher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Infertility, Sexism, Biphobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Abortion, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Transphobia, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Child death, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Body shaming, Death, and Emotional abuse
bookishlittleme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Medical content, Hate crime, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual content, Biphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Infidelity
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Miscarriage, and Alcohol
ejs2000's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Grief, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, Police brutality, Classism, Abortion, Blood, Transphobia, Sexism, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Cultural appropriation
nicoleherz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Feminist adventure set in the wild wild west
A thrilling and inspiring story about a woman who knows she's worth more than the fate she is assigned. I loved the immediate focus on science and feminism, especially set in a time where these were not popular topics.
The characters were diverse with fascinating backstories and the author wasn't shy in taking them away from us.
Loved the happy ending, I was positive we weren't going to get one.
Graphic: Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Sexual content, Abortion, Mental illness, and Violence
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Racism, Alcohol, Biphobia, Excrement, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Self harm, and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical trauma
shoohoob's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
All in all, I liked it!
Graphic: Gun violence, Blood, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Abandonment, Infertility, Medical content, and Misogyny
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Self harm
hmatt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Storytelling
I feel like the author was trying to fit too many events into too short of a narrative. This might have been okay, but there were so many minor events that I think we should have spent less time on, and a number of climactic events that we spent barely any time on whatsoever. A lot of these major events "fade to black" as soon as the action starts, and then we are caught up on what happened in retrospect later on - I was REALLY not a fan of this technique, and I don't think it made sense for the "western" genre.
Character-building
We do get a lot of information on most of the characters but, again, it's almost too much for how short of a book it is. What we lose out on, in my opinion, is a more profound emotional connection with the main character. We don't really dwell on her losses or feel them with her, which is extra strange given the whole novel is told in first-person.
TL;DR
The idea behind the novel is fantastic, but it tries to fit too much in. The concepts it seeks to explore are really only half-fleshed-out and the characters are hard to relate to, simply because the plot moves on too fast to hold space for these introspections.
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Medical content, Infidelity, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Violence, Murder, Infertility, Sexual violence, Racism, Police brutality, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Torture, Sexism, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gore, Miscarriage, and Mental illness
Moderate: Rape, Confinement, Transphobia, Classism, Gore, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal death and Drug abuse
CWs non-exhaustivedenizens98's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Racism, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gun violence, Grief, Child abuse, Abortion, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Body horror, Infertility, Hate crime, Incest, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Excrement, Death, Animal death, and Alcohol
cheye13's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
That being said, I don't think western stories are really for me? There's always such a deep pain and/or hopelessness within them that never seems to hit my catharsis button. This one came very close with each of the outlaw's backstories, but the ultimate plot just left me with, "Well. Okay."
This was definitely my favorite western I've ever read, though. Leagues above.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Misogyny, and Infertility
Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, Blood, Abortion, Confinement, Miscarriage, and Homophobia
Minor: Ableism, Rape, Alcohol, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
ableism wrt: implied bipolar disorder (or perhaps other psychosis), implied post partum depression medical/injury content wrt: gunshot wounds, childbirth & miscarriage, castration, hypothermia, various illnessesazalia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Death, Racism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol, Homophobia, Self harm, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Addiction, Gun violence, and Hate crime