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A review by marci_travels
A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer
5.0
There is a meme on social media right now that shows a library bookend with the categories of "Inspirational, Fantasy, Westerns." This is that book.
In a world vaguely resembling the old American West, women outnumber men 9 to 1, and gender roles are reversed to protect those limited resources. As a man with three younger brothers and seventeen sisters, Jerin Whistler knows his value -- or thinks he does. Just a few months shy of his sixteenth birthday, he will soon be traded or sold to gain enough of a price for his family of sisters and mothers to buy a husband for his sisters, or enough coin to invest in their farms and businesses.
Maybe because the Barbie movie just came out a few weeks ago, or because of my own time and headspace, but I found this story to be a delicious commentary of women who bear the brunt of hard work, yet are treated as the delicate sex, a tongue in cheek gotcha of old time Westerns, a side swipe at young adult harem/love triangles, and a send up of virginal romances. Stay with me, my friends, because it works, truly it works!
Wen Spencer has the ability to write so well and build her world so convincingly, we completely suspend our disbelief as we gallop along with a rescue of a princess, a beautiful farm boy destined for greater things, nefarious kidnappings, royal shenanigans, traitors, shy kisses, and a rousing happily ever after for more than a few characters.
I read this book in one sitting - it is not long or complicated, but there are more than a few moments where scenes in the book could be ripped from today's headlines and social media. Not bad for a book written in 2005. Laugh out loud funny, with a few icks for good measure. Spencer wants to make sure you know who the villains are and paints them as some real nasties.
Good luck in finding a copy. Our big box friends are not playing nice with this one. I was able to snag a copy from Pangobooks.com.
In a world vaguely resembling the old American West, women outnumber men 9 to 1, and gender roles are reversed to protect those limited resources. As a man with three younger brothers and seventeen sisters, Jerin Whistler knows his value -- or thinks he does. Just a few months shy of his sixteenth birthday, he will soon be traded or sold to gain enough of a price for his family of sisters and mothers to buy a husband for his sisters, or enough coin to invest in their farms and businesses.
Maybe because the Barbie movie just came out a few weeks ago, or because of my own time and headspace, but I found this story to be a delicious commentary of women who bear the brunt of hard work, yet are treated as the delicate sex, a tongue in cheek gotcha of old time Westerns, a side swipe at young adult harem/love triangles, and a send up of virginal romances. Stay with me, my friends, because it works, truly it works!
Wen Spencer has the ability to write so well and build her world so convincingly, we completely suspend our disbelief as we gallop along with a rescue of a princess, a beautiful farm boy destined for greater things, nefarious kidnappings, royal shenanigans, traitors, shy kisses, and a rousing happily ever after for more than a few characters.
I read this book in one sitting - it is not long or complicated, but there are more than a few moments where scenes in the book could be ripped from today's headlines and social media. Not bad for a book written in 2005. Laugh out loud funny, with a few icks for good measure. Spencer wants to make sure you know who the villains are and paints them as some real nasties.
Good luck in finding a copy. Our big box friends are not playing nice with this one. I was able to snag a copy from Pangobooks.com.