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lexcellent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
hellokatya'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? It's complicated
5.0
bring some tissue though
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and War
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: Biphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, and Sexism
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism
ripxreads'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
3.0
Moderate: Gun violence, Infertility, Racism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Minor: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt
capybooks'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
Minor: Domestic abuse and Rape
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: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Animal death and Drug abuse
CWs non-exhaustivenothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
2.25
This feminist take on a Western novel, filled with crime, adventure, and challenging authority, was certainly creative, but I was quite the right audience for it. Indeed, I was so distracted by the references to race, doctors, baby Jesus, the Flu and Fever, and the seeming dissolution of the United States that I was almost more focused on trying to figure out whether this was a dystopian alternative history (a Confederate win in the Civil War?) or a dystopian future (post COVID-19?), and I'm honestly still confused.
I also was pretty confused by the role of religion and by all of the characters. There were many, each with a painful background, but none was particularly well-developed, and the sub-plots detracted rather than added to the story. The one exception to this, in my opinion, was Lark's story, which surprised and intrigued me, but he, too, was an underdeveloped character who stuck around too briefly.
I appreciate the reviewer who acknowledged that this book offers a different take on the Hole in the Wall gang. I had no idea that this gang was a real concept and really disappointed that there was no Author's Note explaining that research and that choice (which guess means this is an alt-history novel?).
I picked this up because I needed a quick read to help propel me out of a slump (too many classics in a row/at a time can do that to you), and it was definitely successful in that respect. The story was engaging enough and kept me turning the pages for the few hours that this took to finish, but ultimately, I think Anna North bit off more than she could chew--infertility, religion, feminism, justice, gender fluidity, insomnia, mental health, medicine, mothering, Western adventure--and it really didn't work for me.
Graphic: Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, and Forced institutionalization
acarter's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Incest
asha_'s review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Chronic illness, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Blood, and Excrement