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toffishay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Really interesting short read with a powerful message about community and identity. It could have been longer, I wanted to know more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Violence, Physical abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: War
hullomoon's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Death, and Misogyny
Minor: Gore, Physical abuse, and Gun violence
noroomforghosts's review against another edition
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I think the idea behind this novella is great. Queers fighting fascists I'm a post-apocolyptic west is cool, but it really needed to be a novel to make me believe the arcs of the characters. It's revealed in the first chapter that the lover of our main character Esther is dead. Despite the very clear death consequences, she kinda spills this story to whoever throughout the boom. There's also an insta-love/attraction plot with Cye that just didn't feel believable given how recently Beatriz was killed. It's kinda handwaved away by Esther saying Beatriz wouldn't be jealous, but it just felt too fast.
On the whole, I loved the fast pace of the novel but the character growth also moved way too fast to be believable. I think if it was just longer and I was able to have more time with the characters I really could've gotten into it, but as of now, it's just missing too much.
On the whole, I loved the fast pace of the novel but the character growth also moved way too fast to be believable. I think if it was just longer and I was able to have more time with the characters I really could've gotten into it, but as of now, it's just missing too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Sexism, and War
thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Death
poisonenvy's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I really did.
When Esther watches her girlfriend hang and she's promised for marriage for some other man, she runs away from her powerful father and the town she grew up in, hiding away in a Librarians wagon.
The Librarians are a group of women (or rather, female-presenting people), who travel from settlement to settlement distributing Approved Material -- books with government approval to be read and distributed. She can't live at home, and she feels dirty and guilty for her love of Beatriz, and so she thinks she can do good with them.
What she doesn't know is that the Librarians are actually a group of rebels. The Librarians she meets -- Bet, Leda, and Cye, are not what they appear: Bet and Leda are lovers, and Cye is nonbinary. It turns out, the Librarians are so much more than they appear, and Esther joins their ranks.
On paper, this sounds like a great idea. In execution, not so much. The world-building is shaky, and only half-imagined. There were far too many questions to ask about the world-building and character backstories, and this novella would have been better served as a full-length novel instead of this half-imagined outline of a story. The characters are likewise only half-conceived. There's a weird cringey, out-of-nowhere insta-lust that took me immediately out of the story. Amity is Too Stupid To Live and I can't figure out any of her motivations at all because hardly anything she does is at all logical.
And by god, there are more terrible similes than there are ants on a child's dropped popcicle in the summer. This was a book club read, and when we discussed the first five chapters and I complained about them, I went "lol, wouldn't be funny if there was one immediately as soon as I started reading" and lo and behold, the first sentence of chapter six was <I>yet another</i> terrible simile. The prose left a lot to be desired, with a lot of writing habits that I tend to attribute to novice writers, though this is hardly Gailey's first book.
Overall, this book would have been well-served to have a <i>lot</i> more fleshed out. As it is, it seems like an outline for a story more than a story in truth. And while I love the idea, I hated the execution; I likely would have DNF'd it if it wasn't a book club book.
When Esther watches her girlfriend hang and she's promised for marriage for some other man, she runs away from her powerful father and the town she grew up in, hiding away in a Librarians wagon.
The Librarians are a group of women (or rather, female-presenting people), who travel from settlement to settlement distributing Approved Material -- books with government approval to be read and distributed. She can't live at home, and she feels dirty and guilty for her love of Beatriz, and so she thinks she can do good with them.
What she doesn't know is that the Librarians are actually a group of rebels. The Librarians she meets -- Bet, Leda, and Cye, are not what they appear: Bet and Leda are lovers, and Cye is nonbinary. It turns out, the Librarians are so much more than they appear, and Esther joins their ranks.
On paper, this sounds like a great idea. In execution, not so much. The world-building is shaky, and only half-imagined. There were far too many questions to ask about the world-building and character backstories, and this novella would have been better served as a full-length novel instead of this half-imagined outline of a story. The characters are likewise only half-conceived. There's a weird cringey, out-of-nowhere insta-lust that took me immediately out of the story. Amity is Too Stupid To Live and I can't figure out any of her motivations at all because hardly anything she does is at all logical.
And by god, there are more terrible similes than there are ants on a child's dropped popcicle in the summer. This was a book club read, and when we discussed the first five chapters and I complained about them, I went "lol, wouldn't be funny if there was one immediately as soon as I started reading" and lo and behold, the first sentence of chapter six was <I>yet another</i> terrible simile. The prose left a lot to be desired, with a lot of writing habits that I tend to attribute to novice writers, though this is hardly Gailey's first book.
Overall, this book would have been well-served to have a <i>lot</i> more fleshed out. As it is, it seems like an outline for a story more than a story in truth. And while I love the idea, I hated the execution; I likely would have DNF'd it if it wasn't a book club book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Transphobia
All -isms are condemned by the writing.eegekay's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia
michaelion's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Save a horse, ride a lesbian!
Does a little too much for a book that's way too short. Despite this its very fun. Would I reread it? No. But I did have fun!
Does a little too much for a book that's way too short. Despite this its very fun. Would I reread it? No. But I did have fun!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Hate crime, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, and Vomit
Minor: Outing and War
elwhits's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ugh, I adored this book so much. queer western dystopia with a hot nonbinary love interest and SEVERAL horses? the vibes were impeccable, cannot recommend enough to people looking for a quick queer adventure that imagines alternatives to the status quo.
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Misogyny
ailsaod's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This novella was Disappointing. I have read Gailey's American Hippo novellas and enjoyed them (although they were limited by their length) but this was nowhere near as good. The setting is vague - some kind of near-future dystopia set in America where there is an authoritarian government and a war going on (I may have missed it but who are they fighting?). Not a lot happens in the novella - not surprising given the length but somehow it feels like it takes an eternity to get nowhere. I also didn't really like the main character and the other characters were so so, so reading this was just ok. There was nothing terrible about it but it was also devoid of redeeming features. Go read River of Teeth instead.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Lesbophobia, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Misogyny
as_travars's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Death