Ratings36
Average rating3.5
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK * INDIE NEXT SELECTION * LIBRARY READS SELECTION * AMAZON EDITORS' CHOICE * WASHINGTON POST BEST OF THE YEAR The "terrifying, wise, tender, and thrilling" (R.O. Kwon) adventure story of a fugitive girl, a mysterious gang of robbers, and their dangerous mission to transform the Wild West. In the year of our Lord 1894, I became an outlaw. The day of her wedding, 17 year old Ada's life looks good; she loves her husband, and she loves working as an apprentice to her mother, a respected midwife. But after a year of marriage and no pregnancy, in a town where barren women are routinely hanged as witches, her survival depends on leaving behind everything she knows. She joins up with the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang, a band of outlaws led by a preacher-turned-robber known to all as the Kid. Charismatic, grandiose, and mercurial, the Kid is determined to create a safe haven for outcast women. But to make this dream a reality, the Gang hatches a treacherous plan that may get them all killed. And Ada must decide whether she's willing to risk her life for the possibility of a new kind of future for them all. Featuring an irresistibly no-nonsense, courageous, and determined heroine, Outlawed dusts off the myth of the old West and reignites the glimmering promise of the frontier with an entirely new set of feminist stakes. Anna North has crafted a pulse-racing, page-turning saga about the search for hope in the wake of death, and for truth in a climate of small-mindedness and fear.
Reviews with the most likes.
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.
I enjoyed this one quite a bit I just wish there had been...more. I feel like some of the story was lacking a bit but the characters were pretty well done.
Update: It's been a couple of days and I keep thinking about this book. I find myself missing the characters. I decided to raise my rating from 3 to 4 stars