ARC Review: Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

Title: Gunslinger Girl Written by: Lyndsay Ely Published: January 2, 2018 by Jimmy Patterson (Little Brown Books for Young Readers) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: James Patterson presents a bold new heroine—a cross between Katniss Everdeen and Annie Oakley: Serendipity Jones, the fastest sharpshooter in tomorrow's West. Seventeen-year-old Serendipity "Pity" Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She's been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great.... In this extraordinary debut from Lyndsay Ely, the West is once again wild after a Second Civil War fractures the U.S. into a broken, dangerous land. Pity's struggle against the dark and twisted underbelly of a corrupt city will haunt you long after the final bullet is shot.

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

I love a good YA Western! I was so excited to read another one, especially one with a post-apocalyptic setting. And I am happy to report that this was a fantastic read with a great plot and an engaging world. I think the thing I was most excited and most nervous about this book was the world. I love YA Westerns. It’s such a great setting that is rife for action and adventure. But they are also sometimes hard to do well. This one I think was done well. What I liked about it was that it wasn’t too I love a good YA Western! This is one of my most anticipated debuts of 2018 and I was ecstatic to get a copy at ALA/ I was so excited to read another one, especially one with a post-apocalyptic setting. And I am happy to report that this was a fantastic read with a great plot and an engaging world. I think the thing I was most excited and most nervous about this book was the world.

Westerns are such a great setting that is rife for action and adventure. But they are also sometimes hard to do well. This one I think was done well. What I liked about it was that it wasn’t too over the top. It had elements of Westerns like lawlessness, a saloon style setting, six-shooters, and more but it wasn’t trying to be a historical fiction which I actually enjoyed. This book balanced the elements of Westerns with science fiction naturally. It made for a much more complex world which I really enjoyed.

But this book also had a ton of political intrigue. If you know me, I love when books have political intrigue. And like a lot of things about this world it wasn’t too overwhelmingly. It didn’t get bogged down with details about the second Civil War, it was just one elements that added to the world. It just kind of touched on what happened and why the world is this way. Then it added more to the world with the current political climate. It could have easily gotten too complicated and confusing. It really just added a lot of drama to the world and plot of this world.

Speaking of the the plot, I really enjoyed the plot of this book. It was a book full of action, adventure, and mystery. It’s the kind of book where you are instantly pulled in with the plot. I read most of this book on two flights and it was the perfect book for travel. It’s a fast paced and exciting read. I honestly didn’t want to put it down. Usually when that happens it’s because I am curious about what is going to happen next. I don’t think that was necessarily the case, it was still just very engaging. And I am so interested to see what happens next. Because this book did that rare thing where it concluded the current book and left things wide open for the future.

As for the characters I found them engaging but a little basic. I did connect with Pitt pretty quickly in the book. She had a seriously rough upbringing and came out of it tough, determined, and still compassionate. I wanted to see her get out of that all and have the life she wanted to. As for the rest of the characters they were pretty odious but they didn’t quite make me feel how I usually do with those kinds of characters. I think maybe I just didn’t connect with them so some of the twists and surprises fell a little flat. The characters were likable I was just hoping they could maybe be more complex, but that’s just a personal preference.

All in all I really enjoyed this book. It was everything I was hoping it would be. It had an interesting world, an exciting plot, and likable characters.

I give Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. If you like YA Westerns or are looking for a unique dystopian definitely check this one out. It is a fantastic debut and worth a read.

Have you read Gunslinger Girl? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

ARC Review: Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Title: Vengeance Road Author: Erin Bowman Published: September 1, 2015 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: When Kate Thompson’s father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the eighteen-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow.  But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there's room for love in a heart so full of hate.  In the spirit of True Grit, the cutthroat days of the Wild West come to life for a new generation

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

I'm so glad YA westerns are becoming a thing because they are just so fantastic and I have loved the last few I have read. Vengeance Road was no exception. I was a little nervous going in because the synopsis could very easily go into cliche territory but instead it stayed in a place that was both interesting and engaging. (I wanted to try and make an Wild West joke there but nothing came to me). It was a thrilling read with complex and interesting characters that was creative and so entertaining.

One of my favorite things about this book was the world. I'm a big fan of historical fiction and while I wouldn't say that this is really the traditional kind of historical fiction that I love, it had an old world feel to it. Erin Bowman does a fantastic job of immersing the reader in the world of the Wild West and the legends were rooted in the time period and lasted until today. It took the reader right to Arizona in 1877. Her descriptions were visual and set the tone but it was more than that. It showed the reader what it is was like to live during the period. One of the best example of this was the slang and manner of speech the characters use. It could have been really frustrating but it wasn't at all. It drew you in and gave the book a really authentic feel. Furthermore, the attitudes of the characters felt authentic to the period. It was vigilante justice and a time when prejudice was normal. It all worked to create a fascinating and engaging world.

But my favorite thing was probably the characters. They were all really complex and interesting. I hate when characters are single-minded in their search for revenge and I really feared that here but Kate maintains her vulnerabilities. She's a kickass female protagonist but she is multi-faceted too, which are always my favorite type of women. You empathize with her throughout her journey and she has a great character arc. But she wasn't the only character that was more than they seemed and had some great character arcs. Erin also created some really interesting and likable secondary characters. I liked the Colton Brothers a lot and grew attached to them and even characters who were only a small part of the book made an impression whether they were quirky or villainous. The biggest surprise for me though was that I even liked the romance and the way that all resolved. You know me, I'm romance-phobic but here it really added to Kate's character instead of taking away from it and I wanted there to be a good resolution to that part of the story as much as the general plot. That is the sign of good character development, if I am just as invested in that as I am in the plot. With Vengeance Road, I was.

Which is even more of a big deal because the plot too was really fantastic. It flowed so beautifully and while it was a quick and fast-paced read it was deliberate and well-plotted. I was nervous there would be a lot of travel montages and tropes I don't love but Vengeance Road never fell pray to them. It could very quickly could have turned cliche but it was creative and engaging from beginning to end. Throughout the book there were tons of action scenes and it all really built to a thrilling conclusion that had a great resolution. My only criticism is that I would have liked a little more mystery. I knew there was going to be some kind of left field twist so when it occurred I wasn't totally surprised but it would have worked a little bit better if it was more purposeful and with clues to solve. Maybe that is because this was part of my mystery theme and the synopsis mentions a mystery but it just did feel like a big part of the books plot. But in general the plot was really great and had me on the edge of my seat.

But on the whole this was definitely a great read and I am a bit surprised just how much I liked it. If you are looking for an action-packed read with a tough but vulnerable female protagonist pick this up.

I give Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. If you are a fan of historical fiction or you are just looking for an action-packed and engaging story that will take you on an exciting ride then pick this book up. If you are like me and loving the trend of YA Westerns then you will not be disappointed by the drama and the exciting world Erin Bowman has created.

Have you read Vengeance Road? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Book Review: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Title: The Alloy of Law Series: Mistborn #4 (Wax and Wayne #1) Author: Brandon Sanderson (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Fresh from the success of The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson, best known for completing Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time®, takes a break to return to the world of the bestselling Mistborn series. Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.  Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.  One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

This was my final read of 2014 and the way I concluded my self-proclaimed "year of Sanderson." It was a great way to conclude the year, that's for sure. Like all of Sanderson's books it had a complex and interesting world, likable characters, and an exciting plot. But what struck me so much was how it took something that was already established, the Mistborn trilogy, and changed it in a way that made it feel completely fresh.

The Alloy of Law takes place in the same world as the Mistborn trilogy, but I'm not sure if I would call it a sequel however.  Sure it takes place after The Hero of Ages, but 300 years later. And yes, it does elude to and is influenced by moments and characters from the previous series, but the book is about brand new and unique characters. And yes, it uses the magical systems from the previous books, but it changes and develops them as well. On the whole this book feels like a fresh and exciting turn for a series that I love.

Brandon Sanderson once again proves that he is the master at creating a unique and entertaining magical system. And by that I mean that the magic within this series is so freaking cool! What I loved in the Mistborn series is that the magic is both internal and external. With both Allomancy and Feruchemy you have to have the inherited ability to burn metals and the metals to burn/or use, one without the other will not work. In The Alloy of Law those were of course the same prevailing magical systems but they were both expanded and developed to something even more creative. I didn't think Sanderson could make them any cooler but he succeeded in doing just that. From the use of new metals that give the person amazing abilities to the existence of Twinborns who can do both, the magical system in The Alloy of Law was completely fantastic! Sanderson took the magical system from the previous series and made it different and more interesting.

But Sanderson also made the setting of this book different and more exciting. The world of the Mistborn series was a vivid Medieval style society. Not at all surprising for a High Fantasy. But what Sanderson does is develop his society into something new and different. As if following our own history, the world of Mistborn becomes like the Old West of the 19th century. So we now get a more modernized world with technology and cultural advancements. That's right friends, Allomancy in the Old West! I want to compare it to Steampunk because that is the closest comparison but it's not really like that, it's something all it's own. And while it is something utterly unique it also made perfectly logical sense. Allomancy perfectly lends it self to this kind of setting and Sanderson does an amazing job of portraying to the reader how what happened in the previous series that led to things being this way. It's like that the previous series was an origin story or a mythology. The characters that I learned to know and love have become legends and heroes. It was so much fun, completely unique, and so interesting!

Plus that new setting led to a really cool and interesting plot. I've never been a big fan of Westerns. I don't dislike them, I'm just often disappointed by them, especially with books. But The Alloy of Law is a fantastic Western. But that is probably because for me it read more like a mystery or heist story, which I always love. Sanderson always does a great job of infusing his books with mysteries and big reveals but in The Alloy of Law it felt more like a traditional mystery or procedural. The bulk of the plot was about solving the mystery and we were along for the ride as the characters hunted for clues and attempted to find out who was behind the crime. And while it was less complex and much less of a mind fuck than the two previous books it was still full or surprises. And action. It was so full of action. Between the allomantic battles to the thrilling escapes this book was a quick and exciting read that kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

And once again Sanderson created a host of likable and complex characters that it is easy to connect with. While I did miss the characters from the previous books, the subtle references to them satiated me enough to not miss them too much. Plus in The Alloy of Law I found a group of characters that were just as fantastic. Waxilium and Wayne are the perfect team and the perfect foils. They are both smart, resourceful, and tough but Wax is the more serious one while Wayne brings the humor. Alone they are interesting but together they are fantastic! They have some amazing banter and they work so well together. They have this total Holmes and Watson vibe and I loved it. But there also some really great secondary characters. There's Marasi, an amazing strong female character who is intelligent tough. But my personal favorite character, besides Wayne, was Ranette, who is another amazing female character and while she had a tiny role she made a big impact. I mean her inventions? Ah-mazing! And then of course there was the antagonist who was terrifying and complex. I have always loved the characters that Sanderson creates and that was no different in The Alloy of Law. The characters were interesting and likable and I can't wait to see how they develop with the series.

Fans of the Mistborn trilogy will really enjoy this continuation of the series. It's creative and interesting and is unlike anything I have ever read, and I mean that in the best possible way. Sanderson takes something that we know and love and succeeds in making it better with the development of an engrossing world, a thrilling plot full of mystery, and great characters.

I give The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson 9 out of 10

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy! Fans of Mistborn and members of the Sanderson Army should definitely check out this book. And with two more books in the series coming out soon, including Shadows of Self coming this fall, this is the perfect opportunity. If you haven't read the Mistborn series then get on that so you can check this book out. It's truly fantastic.

Have you read The Alloy of Law? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!