Reviews

Revolutionary by Alex Myers

khornstein1's review against another edition

5.0

I am giving this one five stars because I felt that the Myers in this debut novel took some big risks in writing it: writing about a well-known and admired figure, Deborah Sampson (about whom we actually know very little) and the nature of gender and how we experience it. Even the switching back and forth between the "he" and "she" pronouns/Deborah and Robert made me stop and think about how the character might be trying to resolve, or just experience, the feeling of being both in a very conservative time period.

The military research seemed solid to me, and I liked that some of the book focused on the experience of war and how that felt for the MC.

The book reads like YA, and I wondered how it might have sounded in the first person. I also wanted more background on Deborah's childhood and how she experienced "wanting to be a boy" growing up. I generally dislike rapey stuff as a plot device but thought that scene was well-written.

I am curious to see what Myers writes next! I would like to see another historical novel from him.

laila4343's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars. Moving and detailed historical fiction about a real life woman who served as a man in the Revolutionary War. A book I never would have read had it not been my book group's pick.

thebookishhawaiian's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

hanmur's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

eininthebird's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

jhaverinen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5

ashleykhoffman's review against another edition

4.0

I found the pronoun usage in this book very interesting. As Deborah makes her "transition" and learns what it means to be a male in her world, I find the way the author conveyed highly intriguing. It made me very interested in the actually historical events the novel was based on, and it made me grateful to be a woman in the present day and not in the 1700's. Having a historically-based book written by a trans author that touched on transexual subjects, whether that term was used directly or not, is incredibly progressive.

barbiegirl1993's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

raebooknerd's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

ajraffles's review against another edition

4.0

The author captures well the spirit and voice of the past and it’s a gripping tale. Somewhat predictable, though, as I knew precisely the trajectory for one character in the novel. Still sad—tragic—when it came to such an inevitable conclusion. The last thirty or forty pages dragged a tad, but that’s to be expected with the denouement.