River of Teeth

I somehow missed that this was a novella, every time I looked at it online. It wasn't until I checked it out from the library and was shocked at how small it was that I made that discovery. It was a welcome one, since I checked out seven other books that day, and finding something short was a relief!

And I AM SO GLAD I finally read this, because it's AMAZING. It opens on Winslow seducing a federal agent, and quickly moves to him gathering up a crew to drive feral hippos out of a marsh in Louisiana. I was expected a fun hippo-cowboy romp, and I got that - what I wasn't expected was strong, deadly women, a bisexual male hero, a nonbinary love interest, and hippo steeds. I don't know why hippo steeds didn't occur to me - it's not like they could wrangle hippos from atop horses! There is so much goodness packed into this little volume.

Taste of Marrow, the sequel, is slightly longer, at 192 pages. Still not full book length. I've put a hold on it, because I need to know more about these characters!

River of Teeth: short and sweet, action-packed with amazing characters and a fascinating, bizarre, but historical premise.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

This book is so much fun, just the best kind of pulp. I love it and I need more! Fortunately for me, the sequel just came out.

There's a whole troupe of interesting characters and a very nice romance between a bisexual man and a nonbinary person, as well as lots of action, actually funny humor, and a good plot. The ending is sort of a cliffhanger, but not in a truly frustrating way. Also, I love pretty much anything that has human/animal bonding as a strong plot element, and here all the animal companions are hippos.

This is the Wild South instead of the Wild West; the timeline at the end of the book places it in the 1890s (I think) and explains everything that has put this region in its current (somewhat lawless) state. Other than the hippos, there are some other world-building changes, too. There is no overt anti-lgbt sentiment; all the characters, even the villainous types, use the nonbinary character's pronouns automatically, and no one raises an eyebrow at the two (maybe more) bisexual characters.

In summary, I want to marry this book.

I was handed this book by someone who wanted to know what all the fuss was about. He had seen the nominations and blurbs it got, but when he read it he was unimpressed, and wanted to get my thoughts. I have to admit my reaction is similar, though maybe not quite as harsh. Novellas, to me, often feel like abridged versions of what should be longer, richer books. With the exception of [b:The Ballad of Black Tom 26883558 The Ballad of Black Tom Victor LaValle https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1447086249s/26883558.jpg 46932536] most underwhelm me, and leave me itching for the book that could have been.River of Teeth was no different, but at the same time I feel like its what its supposed to be. The writing is quick and immersive, the characters are distinct though not particularly rich, of course. I liked that it was simple. I liked that there was a straight forward romance between the swaggering bisexual leading man and the nonbinary demolitions expert. There's minimal fuss about having a nonbinary character, no one gets hung up on pronouns. It's refreshing, it's not really realistic and I don't care. I like that Houndstooth gets nervous every time Hero even looks at him, and I wish I got to see them kiss and stuff more. Emphasis on “and stuff.”That said, I found the story a little lackluster. A Mississippi River full of feral man-eating hippos is a pretty dope concept, but the heist (I'm sorry, “operation”) never really grabbed my interest, and even Houndstooth's revenge subplot felt less like a story arc and more like the arc of a fish flopping down a set of stairs. I liked the atmosphere, but I was kind of glad this was as short as it was because I found myself getting bored. I'm giving this book three stars by a hair, and in a more perfect work it would be 2.5. Overall, a fun little venture into an America that could have been with some good character dynamics, but not a whole lot of substance beyond that.

I had fun with this book. My difficulty was the end. I loved the inclusivity in this story. It doesn't feel forced and no one is a token character by any means.

Just that last quarter of the book I really struggled. I'm still going to read the sequel and I am interested in seeing what else Gailey writes.

3.25 out of 5 stars – see this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

Around the turn of the 20th century, the United States toyed with the idea of importing hippos and settling them in the bayous of Louisiana. Such a move would provide an alternative source of meat for Americans, but it neglected the potentially dangerous side effects of introducing an animal with hippos' nasty disposition onto their shores. River of Teeth answers the “what-if” proposition of this great hippo resettlement...and things do not go well.

It's tough for the execution of this story to match how cool the concept is, but I'd say author Sarah Gailey does a commendable job. River of Teeth focuses on a rag-tag collection of adventurers tasked with ridding the coast of the feral hippo beasts. Each character we meet is unique and memorable, but not enough time is spent with any one of them to feel any sort of emotional connection to them upon their eventual demises. Luckily, this is a fun story that unfolds at a fast pace where nary a dull moment is found.

It's an interesting idea, I guess, but it just didn't work for me.

This is one of those books where a plus-size woman, a bisexual cowboy, and a transperson go on an adventure in the early 1800's. That is to say, this is an alternate history western heist novel that is totally plausible. Especially the part where one character uses “they/them” for their pronouns and encounters absolutely no bigotry about this. The same for the bisexual cowboy; people love that he makes sex with men and women! Yay! Progressive pre-Civil War US!

I think I would have appreciated this more had it used more of the actual history and historical context than it did.

As is, it seemed short, underdeveloped, and cliched. Almost as if the author wanted to write a super butch, bro-y heist novel, but “subvert” the tropes with these alternative characters. But the tropes are not subverted.

All that said, at least there are several very likable characters in this book. And the whole notion of using hippos instead of horses is really fun/ny to imagine.

The story was just kind of meh, but I didn't mind because it was short and the setting, premise, and characters were all interesting enough to keep me into it through the end. It made me want more hippo adventures from the characters, particularly Archie and Adelia. High marks for having diverse characters as well!

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! THAT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!! The Writing style was FANTASTIC!!! I adored the setting and plot SO MUCH!!! And the CHARACTERS!!!!! I wanna hear so much more about these characters!!!! I don't say this about Most books, but I Sincerely wish this was longer!!! I can't WAIT to start the second book!!!!!!!

This was so. Much. FUN XD! Like, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I picked it up; all I knew was that there was quite a bit of hype about it and that it was alternate history and involved hippos. I am so, SO glad I got a diverse cast (in both race and gender and sexuality!), kickass ladies (Adelia is #goals), a rip-roaring plot - and ADORABLE HIPPOS WITH AS MUCH PERSONALITY AS THE PEOPLE IN THE STORY OMG! Are there plushies? Because I want plushies. Especially of Ruby.

Anyway! Definitely pick this up everyone. It's a quick read (novella whoo~!) but there's a lot of fun packed in that short span of time. Also, the sequel's coming out in just a few more months, and I'm very much looking forward to that XD.

This was a perfectly lovely little story, but when it ended I honestly felt like this was just Act One. I thought Gailey did a great job introducing this AU America and the characters in the story. One of them is without gender and Gailey committed to the singular “they,” so that representation was really lovely to see. I really wanted more, in the end, so this ultimately wound up feeling a little unsatisfying as a completed story, but I really love the world Gailey built and the people she filled it with. Looking forward to further stories from here.

What a weird book.

I kind of wish this had been set in an alternate future, rather than in the 1800s. You've got two badass con women (including a pregnant knife-slinger), a (presumed) non-binary explosives expert, and a bisexual male rancher leading the gang ... alongside a guy who gets half his ear chopped off before being fed to feral hippos for cheating at riverboat cards. The atmosphere and these characters didn't match up.

The hippos were pretty awesome though. They had personalities just like their humans did, and that was fun.

DNF - PG 42

Why?

First of all, I want to say that I love the idea for this story. It sounds so, so good. It's also a neat idea making it into a ‘western' story - even if that backfired horribly for me. Also, the characters aren't...terrible. (In fact, I can at least sort of enjoy all of them.) And I love the feel I got from the few chapters I listened to, like it's assembling a heist team. That was fun. (Also, we've got some fat rep, a non-binary character and a leading man that I'm pretty sure is bisexual. If not, he's gay.)

The reason I quit reading?

Already in just the forty odd pages I listened to, I had to sit through two torture scenes. Look, extreme violence is something that, more often than not, causes me to quit whatever I'm reading/watching. Torture scenes (and a guy putting half a severed ear into his coat pocket) are something that I can't deal with. They just turn my stomach. I know myself well enough to know I am bracing for anther one. (Honestly, I was bracing for it after the first one, the second one just confirmed my horrible gut feeling.) (Also, note, the first torture scene was perpetrated by one of our ‘heroes' the second, against on of our ‘heroes' if that makes a difference.)

Also, I do not really like westerns - at least not any I've come across. I can tolerate some and have seen a bunch of movies with my family. This book is, in all but Hippos, a western. Many of the same beats and motivations (aka: a lot of the things I dislike in westerns) is here in force. (Which I likely would have ignored if not for the stomach-turning torture I had to sit through.)

Thanks, but no thanks.