I usually groan inwardly when my husband puts a western on the TV (I prefer my movies have a more lively color palette…embarrassingly superficial, I know!), but I loved this book! I would have passed it up, if it weren't for the good reviews that popped up in my newsfeed. Well-paced and action-packed young adult western, featuring an ornery, tough-talkin' female lead. Awesome main character, gripping plot, and a writing style that drags you right into the Wild West - I can't ask for much more. It felt stereotypical, it didn't sit right with me, and I wish her character had been handled differently.Īpart from that, though? I strongly recommend this book. Don't get me wrong, Liluye is a great character, I love that she's in the book, and I particularly like how the dynamic between her and the other characters shifts as the story progresses.īut at the end of the day, it felt like her part in the story was more as a mystical, wise guide for the other characters. So, having said all of that, why three stars? Honestly, because the portrayal of the Apache people - and the role of Liluye. The relationship feels sweet and realistic AND has one of the best examples of consent and respecting boundaries that I've seen in awhile. There's romance, but I don't even mind that (and maybe even enjoyed it, which means that pigs are due to start flying any day now). This is a gripping story of revenge, of family, of using people as a means to an end and maybe realizing that you can't do that anymore.

And that includes some of the less positive aspects that I don't see addressed much in fiction - Chinese railway workers being paid next to nothing, for example.Īnd the plot. When I read, I felt like I was in a gold rush town. Similarly, there's such a great sense of place. The book is written in a dialect - not so much as to be distracting, but enough to make you hear and feel and accent and rhythm of the speech. Erin Bowman does a wonderful job at capturing what what the Wild West was like. I instantly loved her, wanted to be her, and was a little bit afraid of her at the same time. But she also has a soft spot for Little Women. So, I knew as soon as I read the summary, that I was going to adore this book. And, while I've never read a Western before, I grew up on Little House on the Prairie and love that whole frontier feel. For books with tough and gritty and vengeful female characters. I'm a sucker for books where the main character disguises herself as a boy. Big thank you to the publisher and good reads for a free copy of Vengeance Road!

Vengeance road book