Reviews

The Robber Girl by Franny Billingsley

Only show reviews with written explanations

lindalou22's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.0

lory_enterenchanted's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

Franny Billingsley writes like a dream. If only she would write faster -- but the wait was worth it. Following The Folk Keeper and Chime, another story of feminine re-membering and empowerment, in brilliant, vivid language that juxtaposes simple words in surprising, enlightening ways while slowly unfolding a tale made of secrets hidden in plain sight. This one also contains probably my favorite character ever that is an inanimate object: The Dagger.

nerfherder86's review

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4.0

This story is rather unique--it's an "alternate history" historical fiction with some magical realism (sort of) and basically an unreliable narrator. It deals with trauma and memory loss, found family and family ties. It's set in the Old West but not really the "real" Old West. It took me awhile to get into it, probably because I was having to read it only in short sessions. Once I had time to sit and just immerse myself in it and get used to the odd way the narrator tells her story (the dialogue with the dagger gets annoying), I was hooked. It is about an orphan raised by outlaws, who is taken in by a Judge and his wife and learns more "civilized" ways of living while she is trying to get back to her outlaw father-figure and help him get rich. On the surface, it's the Wild West. But then you have things like a religion centered around the "Blue Rose" and the Seven Stars, plus a talking dagger and talking dollhouse dolls, which take this in a different, more philosophical, direction. I really liked the writing once I got used to Robber Girl's odd mannerisms, and found myself rooting for her. There is clearly some horrible tragedy in her past that has caused her not to be able to remember her life before the outlaws, and it has affected her whole personality. Not sure what teens I would recommend this to, unless I knew them very well.

anneweaver9's review against another edition

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4.0

Really enjoyed this.

allison_r's review

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5.0

I really loved this one. A strange starry pearl of a book that does a great job capturing what it’s like to be a child with a head full of rules you must not break, that dictate how you are allowed to see the world, your caretakers, and yourself, and what it feels like when all those rules you have taught come crumbling down. Strange, bittersweet, and joyful. I loved this one.

kbuchanan's review

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3.0

There is some truly lovely writing in this novel, and Billingsley's strange imagined, Western-tinged world is a fascinating one. Still, this novel's hard edges and relentless melancholy presented some challenges for motivation as well as some befuddlement as to any source of appeal for younger readers. Quirky and different, but ultimately a bit of a dark horse.