The Shadow #1
Nettie Lonesome was found as a baby and taken in by the Lonesome family. Which is to say used by Mam & Pap Lonesome to work and work and work some more. One night she encounters a man who wants what she doesn’t want to give. There is a struggle and the man turns out to be no man, but a monster, and suddenly Nettie is caught up in a whole other world.
But then again, maybe it has always been part of Nettie’s destiny.
This is a book I came across through twitter, it made it onto Mount TBR back in August and I pre-ordered it back then. And I’m so glad that I did. It is such a great read. Nettie, or Nat, or Rhett, whatever name is used, is a great character. Throughout the book Nettie is referred to as she, but often she refers to herself as a man. So I’m not sure exactly which pronoun to use, I think I’ll stick with female ones as that is what the author uses in online references to the character. Nettie wants to be a man in part because all her life women have been weak and powerless. Men are the ones who can take control of their own lives. In an utterly male-driven society wouldn’t you want to pretend to be somebody with at least a modicum of power rather than someone who must live at a man’s sufferance.
Because Nettie is bottom of the pile, not just because she is female. Or an orphan with no one to look out for her interests, but also because she is half black, half Native American, and in the white dominated world she has grown up in the colour of your skin counts.
Apart form all that awesomeness there is also a great story and great characters in this book. It has revenge, monsters, gun fights, Rangers, brawls and hints of romance. It’s just a great story. I look forward to reading more about Nettie as this is the first book in a proposed series.
Wow, this one sounds good–and unusual!
It is a really good read. Interesting characters, great story, monsters, and diversity! what more could you want :)
I heard this one has some great imagined mythology/folklore, too! And way cool that there are monsters and gun fights. Already have it on my to-read list :D
Sharry´s last blog post ..Book Review: Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier. How will a prickly healer hell-bent on vengeance and a hulking brute haunted by nightmares save a Prince and his darling from the sinister workings of an ancient magic?
It does! So if you like that sort of thing, and I loved it, you should certainly give it a go