Outlawed

No Nonsense Review:
- I liked this.
- I bought this book blind on a whim.
- It was a quick read, but it felt as if it was the correct length.

- The story has women go through hell, commit crimes, survive, and try to make the world better.

2.5 stars.

Just okay. Nothing really happened and I saw how much of the book was left and was like, yep, goodbye Lark... He was a convenient plot device to try and get us to like Ada.

In terms of genre, you will not read anything like this novel, but it's most accurate to call it an alternate history western and leave it at that. The major focus is on women's lives, and it uses the alternate history elements to tell a very modern story about women and AFAB people who have been marginalized by history. It has the rare hat trick of discussing very modern topics – mental illness, queer topics, the role of women in society– in a way that feels utterly true to the historical conventions it sets up. The characters don't know what the gender binary is, but the story is structured so no one is misgendered. The characters don't know what being bipolar is, but the story still treats these issues with care. The first person prose never obscures when it should illuminate; unlike many first person novels, it never takes the easy way out. Overall, an excellent novel that I recommend to anyone who loves stories of women who get their hands dirty.

I am so behind on my reviews, but this was such a good book! I'm shelving as ‘fantasy,' but it's really more of an alternate history of the American West after a plague kills 90% of the population and women's fertility becomes all-important. I wish the rest of the gang were a little better-differentiated but I'm not going to complain too hard about a book that's as much fun as this one - content warnings for violence and probably several other things, so it's not all fluff, but it was a compelling read, so much so that I had to consciously make myself put it down so I wouldn't read it in one sitting. Also, almost everyone in the gang (besides Ada, it seems) is some variety of LGBT/non-binary and it's amazing.

Lesbian western involving books as a plot piece. Some parts I still think of but otherwise this was a flop.

cute romp to distract from the real world.

*2.5 stars. The concept of this book held great promise - and I enjoyed the reimagining of America and the Western tradition, the fertility focus, the power of women, etc.; but while the characters were interesting on the surface I felt there was a lack of true depth, it was not for a lack of trying from North. She tried to give backstories and interactions and engagements for the various members of the Hole in the Wall Gang, but they just didn't connect for me. There were so many big issues that were hinted at but lacking clarity or a tie that bound them to the reader. For concept, North gets an A. For execution and real depth, unfortunately it's a C at best.