Reviews with content warning for Blood - River of Teeth

I've read only three so far, but I think Sarah Gailey's books are in a class all their own. Rollicking and funny
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 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.

Content Warnings

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

How is it possible for me to love one author so much, another Sarah Gailey book that I loved. This was absolutely wild and full of rollicking Western fun but with hippos! I know it’s a novella so short but I still read the whole thing in one sitting (it’s about double the length I would usually do in one sitting). I am craving more books with the exact energy/vibes that the Hero/Houndstooth relationship has, good god I need more of that in my veins, it was GLORIOUS. The FLIRTING. This is the shit!!!

Content Warnings

teachertroitsky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Did you know that In 1909, the United States was suffering a shortage of meat, while at the same time, Louisiana's waterways were being choked by invasive water hyacinth? Louisiana Congressman Robert F. Broussard proposed an ingenious solution to both those problems: Import hippos to eat the water hyacinth; then, eat the hippos. This novel is a thrilling ride into the alternative history of what might have emerged if this plan was actually implemented. I did not know if I would like the book. I usually don't read alternate history stories. I loved the atmosphere and dimensions of Gailey's world, characters, the story and just everything! I could not put it down. Absolutely fabulous story telling in a most original re-imagining of alternate history.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

River of Teeth is a dark and fun revenge caper/operation alternate history with hippo steeds and self-confident queer sexiness. If that doesn't make you want to read it immediately, I'm not sure what else would convince you. Check this one out.

I love heist stories, caper (sorry, "operation") stories, anything where we get the crew together for one very dangerous job. I also love alternate history, twisting the past into something a little bit different, a little more weird (or at least differently so). Unsurprisingly, I loved this book. The premise is weird and wonderful, everyone who wants to be sexy is very sexy, the revenge plot is established without weighing down the story... it hit all the right notes for me and I'll definitely check out the sequel.

I don't think it goes quite as far as to have queerness as a default, but it gets most of the way there in very excellent form. Hero is great, their dynamic with Houndstooth is sexy and fun without distracting from the main plot. There's a lot of little things to appreciate and I don't want to spoil them, this just felt very good to read.

That the seed for this premise comes out of a real historical proposal is pretty great, but even if that weren't the case, this would still be a dark and fantastic story.

It moves fast and has a lot of fun, but it's also a revenge story and it has some pretty bloody scenes. Not everyone is up for that, so please take care of yourselves. It somehow manages to be gruesome, edging up to explicit without quite getting there, all without having a dark tone. If you are up for that, go read this.

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