avacadosocks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Child death
black_cat_iiix's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Torture, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Animal cruelty
quinnyquinnquinn'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
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, and Torture
kyliereads341's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
below_average_baker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
oliverreeds'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Torture
jhbandcats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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.
Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence