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sarahbrooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
eyelit's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
3.5
pinskal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
jesdcay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
minchowski's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mbpartlow's review against another edition
3.0
Well written, but I think a lot of us readers want more about the ...thing in the trunk.
kennethtcox's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.25
cjbennett308's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
morticia_59's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-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
I think this book is actually perfect.
I love LaValle's authorial voice, but I was skeptical about how it would translate to the dawn of the 20th century in Montana.
I shouldn't have doubted him.
It's a testament to his skill and empathy that he wrote a novel in which nearly every character that matters is a woman, and each one is flawed, complicated, messy, and wonderful.
From a persnickety historical accuracy perspective, this book STILL manages to be a coup, capturing the diversity of the West in a way that's seldom shown in American media. LaValle built a window into the complex relations of a land that was making its own rules about who counts as an insider and when. I've been fascinated by the truth this era since first learning about Black and Hawaiian cowboys and of Wyoming granting women the vote while the dust of the Civil War hadn't even settled yet.
LaValle captures this complexity so deftly, pulling in all of history's most marginalized people: Black women, immigrant women, Chinese women in the era of the Exclusion Act, queer people, poor people and, not to be forgotten, children.
Lone Women is a brilliant piece of historical fiction, but it's also a story about generational trauma, about resilience and found family. It is, at times, genuinely terrifying and at others completely magical. It's a hundred common tragedies and "good for her" moments all tied together.
LaValle will pull your feelings one way and jerk them back faster than you can process them.
It's just brilliant. The book is fucking brilliant.
And, not that Mr. LaValle has any reason to give a fuck what I think, if he is tempted to write another historical horror, the whaleships of the 19th century are full of terrors and Black, Asian, and Native men whose stories haven't been told often enough.
I love LaValle's authorial voice, but I was skeptical about how it would translate to the dawn of the 20th century in Montana.
I shouldn't have doubted him.
It's a testament to his skill and empathy that he wrote a novel in which nearly every character that matters is a woman, and each one is flawed, complicated, messy, and wonderful.
From a persnickety historical accuracy perspective, this book STILL manages to be a coup, capturing the diversity of the West in a way that's seldom shown in American media. LaValle built a window into the complex relations of a land that was making its own rules about who counts as an insider and when. I've been fascinated by the truth this era since first learning about Black and Hawaiian cowboys and of Wyoming granting women the vote while the dust of the Civil War hadn't even settled yet.
LaValle captures this complexity so deftly, pulling in all of history's most marginalized people: Black women, immigrant women, Chinese women in the era of the Exclusion Act, queer people, poor people and, not to be forgotten, children.
Lone Women is a brilliant piece of historical fiction, but it's also a story about generational trauma, about resilience and found family. It is, at times, genuinely terrifying and at others completely magical. It's a hundred common tragedies and "good for her" moments all tied together.
LaValle will pull your feelings one way and jerk them back faster than you can process them.
It's just brilliant. The book is fucking brilliant.
And, not that Mr. LaValle has any reason to give a fuck what I think, if he is tempted to write another historical horror, the whaleships of the 19th century are full of terrors and Black, Asian, and Native men whose stories haven't been told often enough.