Well, let me begin by saying that this book had potential. Multiple plot points paved the way for some interesting and thought-provoking stuff. However, with an underdeveloped and choppy plot, two-dimensional characters, and way too much left unexplained, the book falls SHORT.
It's even hard to really say what Outlawed is about at its core. The book takes place in an alternate reality in the 1890's. A massive Flu took out a huge percentage of the population and transformed the US into a series of small, independent towns (I think.) Many of these towns have developed on top of the bodies of those who perished from illness, leaving a superstitious population still willing to accuse women of witchcraft.
This is especially true for women who can't have children. Since they don't understand the science behind barren women, once they marry them off at a young age, if they don't have a baby within about a year, they're kicked out of their husband's home. Some survive, some flee, others are hanged as witches.
Ada, the main character, is one such woman. After failing to bear a child within the first year of her marriage, she's sent back home to her mother and whispers of her witchcraft begin to rumble through town. To escape, her mother sends her away to a convent. There's a price on her head and a sheriff out looking for her, so hiding out at the convent would be wise, but it's not for her. Off Ada goes to try and join up with the Hole in the Wall gang, led by the infamous Kid.
While in the company of the Hole in Wall gang, Ada discovers her true calling, her true talent. She also learns how to ride a horse, defend herself, shoot a gun, and disguise herself as a man. Like I said, there's a lot going on here. In the end, Ada decides to fight for her true path, giving us a hopeful and inspiring ending minus all the information you were hoping to get about the future of the characters you've been following all along.
This book could have been an ode to feminism in the wake of uneducated, brutal men. But, they give the strongest female a serious weakness. It could have been a book about those on the fringes of a society coming together to find peace, but the gang doesn't really let anyone else in who might have benefited from their protection. We could have just ended up with a good 'ole, female-led Western, but it fails to get there as well.
Something about this story just didn't deliver, and I'm not sure I liked what was there enough to care about what was missing. I wish the author had focused more on a single tangent though, so there was less to follow, and less to wonder about once we reached the end. It also would have helped flush out her characters, in my opinion. A lot of things in here felt a little flat, or too quickly resolved with a single flashback.
You might want to skip this one, or at least go into reading it like you'd watch a single episode of a TV show -- you know most things won't get resolved by the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment