This is, for sure, The Handmaid's Tale meets the Wild, Wild West.
Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Tor Teen via a Bookish First giveway. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book.
Dear gosh, this totally matched up with how it was being billed: this is, for sure, The Handmaid’s Tale meets the Wild, Wild West. This was a rush of a world that made me angry and hopeful at the same time in a ridiculously cool setting.
🤠 A LOVE: This story takes on many themes that I loved. It showed girls reclaiming their power, girls supporting girls, sisterly love, and more. These girls have been forced into sexual slavery/prostitution, and when a customer is killed by one of our fierce members of the lady gang, they go on the run to save themselves and find the freedom and strength that they should always have had. These girls are angry – and I was certainly angry with them – and this books shows inspiration, hope, and more for them. Trust me, there was a lot of feminist fist pumping happening.
🤠 A SO-SO: The pacing! The beginning of the story was super fast paced and intriguing. I binge read about 150 pages in one sitting. However, about midway, the plot kind of dwindled and meandered. We were taking a stroll on horseback that seemed to go in circles. It picked back up by the end, but I still felt like I ran a mile before I got back to the enjoyment.
🤠 A LOVE: The setting! You almost never see Western settings in YA – or anything outside the intensely small Wild West sub genre – and this was done so well. It truly felt like I could feel the sand in my hair and hear the clomps of the horses. This is a magical setting as well complete with angry ghosts, Raveners (warlocks), and glowing tattoos. The world building was rich, detailed, and easy enough to understand. While it took me a pause to figure it out at parts, it was relatively easy to dive in.
🤠 A LOVE: The girl gang! I love my girl gangs so much. Just give me an ensemble female cast, and I’m so sold. I loved being with this group of leading ladies. And trust me – they were strong, fierce, and brought so much bravery. Aster ended up being the main character, and personally, my favorite. She had so many walls up in the beginning, but as the story progresses, she shows her vulnerability and growth.
🤠 A SO-SO: The characterization. While I enjoyed the characters, I really never felt a super strong connection to them? I think we were really focused on the development of the storyline and world that the characterization was really only surface level at times. Aster was the most developed, and Violet had a character arc, too. However, Tansy and Mallow were really only shadows, and Clementine and Zee kind of felt like the same people at times? I liked the characters well enough, but I really wanted much more.
🤠 A LOVE: No real romance! There were side romances at times, but this story really focuses on the journeys that these characters need to be on. It wasn’t thrown in just to have it and if it did happen, it was organic.
rating: Jasmine because this whole new world was highly intriguing and involved some badass ladies, I wanted more
representation: sexual abuse survivors, black main characters
content warnings: attempted sexual assault, mentions of prior sexual assaults, sexual slavery/prostitution, murder, violence, gore, kidnapping
Dear gosh, this totally matched up with how it was being billed: this is, for sure, The Handmaid’s Tale meets the Wild, Wild West. This was a rush of a world that made me angry and hopeful at the same time in a ridiculously cool setting.
🤠 A LOVE: This story takes on many themes that I loved. It showed girls reclaiming their power, girls supporting girls, sisterly love, and more. These girls have been forced into sexual slavery/prostitution, and when a customer is killed by one of our fierce members of the lady gang, they go on the run to save themselves and find the freedom and strength that they should always have had. These girls are angry – and I was certainly angry with them – and this books shows inspiration, hope, and more for them. Trust me, there was a lot of feminist fist pumping happening.
🤠 A SO-SO: The pacing! The beginning of the story was super fast paced and intriguing. I binge read about 150 pages in one sitting. However, about midway, the plot kind of dwindled and meandered. We were taking a stroll on horseback that seemed to go in circles. It picked back up by the end, but I still felt like I ran a mile before I got back to the enjoyment.
🤠 A LOVE: The setting! You almost never see Western settings in YA – or anything outside the intensely small Wild West sub genre – and this was done so well. It truly felt like I could feel the sand in my hair and hear the clomps of the horses. This is a magical setting as well complete with angry ghosts, Raveners (warlocks), and glowing tattoos. The world building was rich, detailed, and easy enough to understand. While it took me a pause to figure it out at parts, it was relatively easy to dive in.
🤠 A LOVE: The girl gang! I love my girl gangs so much. Just give me an ensemble female cast, and I’m so sold. I loved being with this group of leading ladies. And trust me – they were strong, fierce, and brought so much bravery. Aster ended up being the main character, and personally, my favorite. She had so many walls up in the beginning, but as the story progresses, she shows her vulnerability and growth.
🤠 A SO-SO: The characterization. While I enjoyed the characters, I really never felt a super strong connection to them? I think we were really focused on the development of the storyline and world that the characterization was really only surface level at times. Aster was the most developed, and Violet had a character arc, too. However, Tansy and Mallow were really only shadows, and Clementine and Zee kind of felt like the same people at times? I liked the characters well enough, but I really wanted much more.
🤠 A LOVE: No real romance! There were side romances at times, but this story really focuses on the journeys that these characters need to be on. It wasn’t thrown in just to have it and if it did happen, it was organic.
rating: Jasmine because this whole new world was highly intriguing and involved some badass ladies, I wanted more
representation: sexual abuse survivors, black main characters
content warnings: attempted sexual assault, mentions of prior sexual assaults, sexual slavery/prostitution, murder, violence, gore, kidnapping