ARC Review: The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters

Title: The Steep and Thorny Way Written by: Cat Winters Published: March 8, 2016 by Amulet Books (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: A thrilling reimagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, The Steep and Thorny Way tells the story of a murder most foul and the mighty power of love and acceptance in a state gone terribly rotten.  1920s Oregon is not a welcoming place for Hanalee Denney, the daughter of a white woman and an African-American man. She has almost no rights by law, and the Ku Klux Klan breeds fear and hatred in even Hanalee’s oldest friendships. Plus, her father, Hank Denney, died a year ago, hit by a drunk-driving teenager. Now her father’s killer is out of jail and back in town, and he claims that Hanalee’s father wasn’t killed by the accident at all but, instead, was poisoned by the doctor who looked after him—who happens to be Hanalee’s new stepfather.  The only way for Hanalee to get the answers she needs is to ask Hank himself, a “haint” wandering the roads at night.

*** I received and advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

Cat Winter's is an author that has been on my list for awhile now. I've heard great things about her writing and that she has a tendency to write diverse historical fiction. So when I was so excited to pick up The Steep and Thorny Way on Netgalley. And I really enjoyed it. The Steep and Thorny Way is a great piece of historical fiction and an interesting Shakespeare retelling all wrapped together to create something unique and compelling.

One of the things that I liked about this book was the characters. Winters is able to create a small town full of interesting and complex characters that walk a seriously fine line between good and bad. It is the kind of book where I was suspicious of everyone because no one really seemed to be good, they were all pretty odious. Even our main character, Hanalee, who we first meet as she is getting ready to kill the person who was sent to prison for the murder of her father. Hanalee though is a great main character. She is sympathetic and out for vengeance but she isn't entirely single-minded. There is a larger goal of justice and equality that makes her likable and sympathetic. I was rooting for Hanalee to achieve her goals. But as far as the secondary characters go they were just as interesting. There were a lot of them though and so many were bootleggers and members of the KKK, it was kind of hard to keep them straight. But it did add to this really interesting us against the world vibe of the book.

Those characters did help to craft a compelling historical setting though. I really enjoyed the historical elements of this book. I'm a fan of historical fiction and I really like when the subject matter is something different and unique. That was absolutely the case here. The book is set in Oregon in the 1920's but it isn't your typical 1920's read. It's darker and grittier. The Steep and Thorny Way takes a look at not only a lesser know but a darker part of the period and our history. It's about discrimination and the treatment of people who are seen as inferior with talk of Eugenics and the KKK. It's an issue that has significance still today and it was so interesting. And Cat Winters handled the issue brilliantly. It made for a compelling story but it was also incredibly well-researched and made for a really compelling setting.

And that setting also perfectly fit with the plot of this book. The basis for the plot of the story is the Shakespeare element, specifically Hamlet. I decided to read it as part of my retellings month because I was so excited about the genderbent and diverse Hamlet. It has been awhile since I read Hamlet but the author did a great job of developing a unique and interesting story with the original as it's basis. She actually had me looking up the elements of the original and made me want to reread it. And while it is a loose retelling the comparisons are there and very fitting for this story. Just like Hamlet, this is a story of revenge, of a character who is visited by the ghost of her father who tells her to avenge him. But there is also so much mystery here. The culprit isn't who you think it is and so many of the characters are much more odious than that. The book definitely had me guessing. A few of the twists I had predicted but it was still full of surprises.

But that being said, there was a bit of a disjointed flow or pacing to the story. Maybe it was going for that kind of dramatic or theatrical flow to it because of the Hamlet theme. It did have a bit of that sort of flow. It showed of brief moments and then moved to the next one but there was often little segue. I usually don't go for this kind of format. I feel the disconnect in these cases. But the general pacing od the book was good. It escalated to an interesting conclusion with lots of moments of action of big reveals but along the way to me it just felt like snapshots in time, not necessarily a cohesive progression of the story.

On the whole, this was a good read. It was a dark and gritty historical fiction novel with complex and odious characters and an interesting Shakespeare retelling. I didn't totally love the format but the storytelling was good and it makes me want to read more Cat Winters books.

I give The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. I would recommend to fans of Hamlet and/or historical fiction. If you are looking for a book that handles the difficult issues of discrimination during our history then check this book out.

Have you read The Steep and Thorny Way? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!