Welcome to Litsy!

Wake of Vultures was an annoying read, written in western dialect that was hard to push through all of the little drama the main character went through that was hard to sympathize with.

A Black Native bisexual gender-fluid horse-wrangling demon hunter in a fantastical Wild West? Damn, that‘s a lot to chew on...& I honestly don‘t know if the author managed to pull it off. The characters & setting were AWESOME. But the plot moved slowly, & the narrative style got tiring. Also, it felt like the MC questioning their gender identity was rooted in internalized misogyny. Well crafted, but there‘s still a lot that left me wanting. ★★★☆☆.

Saw this last night—all four books in Delilah Dawson‘s (writing as Lila Bowen) Shadow series are on sale for $1.99 across platforms (I found them on both Kindle and Apple Books)! At that price how could I say no? I just checked and they‘re still on sale so if you need a little more reading, you might want to take a look!

Wow okay I'm really happy I gave this a reread when I felt more into a western. I liked all the cast and it really does circle around a lot of topics like gender roles, sexual orientation and race from a personal perspective as well as societal.

Finally giving this a reread. I was super uninterested the first time around but now feeling more like a western-y book

#2020Book35
If you want a fantasy/cowboy novel that includes diversity and LGBTQ+ representation that fits naturally into the plot, then I highly recommend checking out this book. The climax seemed to resolve a bit too easily, but that's likely because this is the first of a series, so I assume the villains will just get tougher in the following books.

Made it home safe. Settling in to read this one now. When I checked it out I had no idea that it was a western about vampires but it‘s pretty good.

I don't have much interest in westerns to begin with but this was darned fun. it's more of a fantasy/supernatural-flavored western with a gender-nonconforming + mixed race protagonist which upped much of my enjoyment. will definitely be reading more of this series going forward.

A complex, relatable, and remarkable heroine that brings a great voice to a story dances through history, culture, and mythology all while being unique. The characters are great, the story fast-paced, and the writing is vivid.

a big ol #bookhaul from #halfpricebooks 😅 honestly I'm most excited to finally read Schwab since her books are in perpetual holds hell at my local and digital libraries.

Hmmm....I‘m mixed on this one. Interesting alternate universe of the early American western frontier, complete with Rangers. Bowen (who is actually Delilah S. Dawson) plays fast and loose with facts and I think this could have worked better if it were actually an own voices book. It ended on a cliffhanger so I‘m going to need to read the next book but I‘m not in a hurry to do it.

Reading this now. I‘m not sure where I saw it recommended but it apparently has monsters.

Well yeeehaw! This was a rip roaring good time! Squidapus feels Westerns are a hugely underrepresented setting in fantasy. Bowen sometimes skirts there line of making her language a bit too stereotypical "ah got a snake in my boot" but uses it well enough to great narrative effect. Nettie is a fantastic character and might be the only nonbinary/possibly trans-male protagonist I've read in any fiction; her journey inward and outward is enthralling

Squidapus heard a lot about this one, if the really awful cover subsumed in slathery praise is anything to go by. Minimalism people, it's like a frickin game of the year edition. Squidapus might put up a review for Good Faeries of New York but holy heck get did not like it. Finally have time to read again so let's see how this goes!

I picked this up because I read a review somewhere that called this a "Weird Western." There are cowboys, bronc bustin, Rangers, and monsters! Lots of monsters! I absolutley LOVED this book!! It is my current favorite!
?
5⭐

Hmmmm not what I was expecting but not terrible. It was much more of a western than I was anticipating which...I ain't a big fan of westerns buy I loved the diversity in this

I did all my adulty stuff (work and voted in the Alberta election) so now it's time to unplug and pick this baby up

This month‘s Sci-fi & Fantasy Book Club pick. #eshaverbookseller

What a great book! This is a wonderful fantasy, fast paced and well written! Love the wonderfully diverse characters! I love all the monsters as well as the western setting! Highly recommend! 🤩🤩🤩

I have so much love for this book! The inclusivity with sexuality was heavily emphasized, but it needed to be for how naive Nettie was. A bit anticlimactic at the end for me - I was expecting more from it. I‘m interested in where Nettie‘s story takes her and so I‘ll be picking up the next book.

Wasn‘t too sure about this one in the beginning, but it‘s turning out to be pretty good! #CurrentlyReading

This was a good book, the mysteries are well done, the violence is realistic but not in the creepy torture porn levels, and the characters are interesting. I would say that the obsession over gender identity was a bit over done, but the author did a good job explaining the main characters naivety regarding sexuality. 3.5/5 stars. A mixed girl must discover her true self among monsters and save innocents along the way w/o dying or worse.

1. In my kiddo's room, waiting to make sure she's sound asleep before tiptoeing out
2. Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen and Feel Free by Zadie Smith (ostensibly I'm also reading Circe, but I'm having trouble focusing and I want to be able to give it the attention it deserves)
3. It's so hard to choose sometimes. I tend to start a bunch of them until one really speaks to me.

Thanks for the tag @Trashcanman 😊
#tuesdaytidbits @SilversReviews

Rainy day reading...and coffee 📖☕️ #booksandbeans

A little writing and a little book time on this cold, wet day before I head to work. I‘m about 100 pages into my current read and I can see the plot starting to come together 🤗

#MarchInBooks #currentread @maich

This teenage western paranormal/horror story is unlike anything else I have ever read. I had the next 2 books ordered before I was finished, and it only got better! Recommended. #YA

Apologies for the flood of posts but I‘m catching up on photo challenges! This series is the first thing that pops into my head when I think cowboys, and it‘s funny and dark at the same time, which is a winning combination for me. 🤠 #emojinov @RealLifeReading

A sassy half-Indian, half-black girl who identifies as a boy has her eyes opened to a mysterious Wild West full of mythical creatures + monsters preying on unsuspecting humans. Nettie finds her calling fighting these evils alongside Rangers & skinwalkers. Lots of action/adventure + great characters & surprising creatures. I love that this is my second book recently with the message that you don't have to be what others tell you to be. PICK!

So I enjoy a good map at the start of a book, but I assumed some of the items on this one (dwarfs, roc aerie, cockatrice infestation) were an amusing case of 'here be dragons' - but after surviving the chupacabra territory and tackling a Siren, I can only assume the rest (satyrs, wyverns, sasquatch!) are all real and will be appearing at some point!
🐉🦄🦅✨
#bookswithmaps #mapsinbooks #sirensreadingchallenge

You know how some books take a little while to get going? This is not one of those! By the end of paragraph 2, I am fully invested in this strange wild west with dark scary magical monsters and my undervalued main character with her sassy narrative voice. Consider me IN this...
#sirensreadingchallenge

Nettie Lonesome is a half-black, half-Indian girl navigating her way through a world of white men and monsters - who are sometimes one and the same. Bucking the gender binary, Nettie thinks of herself as a boy, and finds that being human can mean a number of different things, including being more than the sum of your parts. I can't wait to read the sequel!

#sirensreadingchallenge #lgbtq #genderbinarybusted

It's a #roadtripread! Heading up to Maine to witness my brother's marriage.

#sirensreadingchallenge

This is my favorite recent series that #smellsliketeenspirit. The characters are great and the adventures are highly entertaining, and I can't wait to read the next one! #JuneTunz

Fantastic!!! Pick it up & you won't put it down! Western, female heroine & supernatural beasties!!!

"Ain't polite to bite your friends, Chuck" -from Wake of Vultures.This stack is only a small portion of my to be read list

This was a unique fantasy western filled with monsters and myths. Started a little slow but quickly picked up! Nettie was a tough but deep-feeling MC trying to understand herself and the world around her. I recommend this one!

Thanks to @bartsbooks I bought this -- it combines two of my favorites: the old west and fantasy. This is the first of a new series and I think book two CONSPIRACY OF RAVENS is already out.

For #booklove17 #sharethelove is modeled here by my oldest. Other middle school kids are playing around and wandering before the meet, mine is reading.

Western inspired things usually are not my go to genre. And it took me a little while to settle in to this mix of western and fantasy properly. But when I did. I loved it. Nettie Lonesome is a fantastic character! Can't wait till Wordery deliver my order of book 2!

About a quarter in, and really enjoying it so far.

Fun!! I really enjoyed this book, described as Lonesome Dove meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm counting it for the @bookriot #ReadHarder challenge for a book in which a person of color goes on a spiritual journey - Nettie is on a LOT of journeys in this book to figure out WHAT she is (human? monster? something between?) and WHO she is (boy? girl? someone who doesn't fit the binary?) and where she came from. #LitsyAtoZ #LetterB

#Cupidgoespostal You guys are freaking me out because I haven't put my package in the mail yet, because I decided to make something and it's taking me longer than it should be. So, I'm listening to my audiobook while frantically trying to finish so I can get it in the mail tomorrow!

#kindledeal This series is a western, paranormal, idunnobutiloveit kind of thing. And Delilah Dawson writes many different genres (comics, YA, paranormal sass, Star Wars!!) . I love that about her. #girlcrush https://t.co/EZpkT3OLYH

Sooooooooo much fun. Such a badass, lovable heroine. Nettie Lonesome is my hero. I desperately want the next book (but I is poor)

Nettie Lonesome is a gosh darn badass. This book is sooo good. Reading it is defiantly easing the pain of the 400$ I just had to spend on my car.

Good lord this book is fun already. I'm 27 pages in and I'm completely hooked. A POC protagonist, a bizarre Wild West, and a wicked wit narration. I would love to just sit around a read this and drink coffee all day but alas I have to clean the bathrooms

This book was not exactly what I was expecting it to be but I enjoyed the heck out of it. It had an old western vibe with tons of supernatural and mythical creatures. The main character Nettie Lonesome was really interesting too. I can't wait to get the the next book! 😁👍

Nettie Lonesome dreams of a greater life than toiling as a slave in the sandy desert. This is all she knows, until she survives an attack by a stranger and is awakened to the sinister truth of the world around her (from the back cover) I'm only 22 pages in but it's pretty interesting so far😁

"Moran.Had a danged fine moustache"

I think my reading drought might finally be broken with Lila Bowen's Wake of Vultures. Creepy weird west horror with shapeshifters, monsters, and a delicious dash of gender identity confusion, my own personal catnip. This is the west as we don't usually see it depicted--not just the monsters--but in whose stories are being told. Absolutely loved it!