Winters continues her run of excellent historical fiction with slight paranormal/supernatural elements. Great historical detail with care taken to avoid anachronisms, and a relatable, strong heroine. The Oregon settings are also interesting, as most Prohibition-era stories seem to take place in New York, Chicago, or San Francisco. In this edition, an era of social upheaval and the power of small men is explored as the biracial main character and a homosexual boy in her town both experience the effects of hate. The local KKK are seen as a fairly friendly, inactive group. Three guesses what's really going on...

I've appreciated how Winters' books so far don't overly rely on central romances, so I was kind of disappointed how much emphasis this book put on romantic relationships being so central to identity, acceptance and future success. But on the other hand, she doesn't necessarily pursue that within the main plot, which is in line with her other stories so far. Some attention given to exploring the motivations of people on different sides of an issue (nice to have the parents' story), but less so than other books so far. There's only so much you can cover within a tightly-paced book and the main POV, but it might have been too much to cover (racism + sexual identities with two different representative characters).

Before I get to my review of the book, I just want to talk a minute about the history of eugenics in the United States. I have never been taught this in school. I am absolutely outraged and disgusted that not only were eugenics very prominent in the United States, to the point that a lot of historians believe Nazi Germany's eugenics were inspired by it, but we (Americans) completely overlook it and pretend like it never happened when talking about American history. I have been in school for about 11 years and never, not once have I ever learned about American eugenics.

Nothing good ever came out of ignoring history and not teaching the truth. American schools should teach honestly about all of American history- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
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Now, for my review:

Holy shit, this book was INTENSE.

Thank you, Cat Winters, for writing a story with diverse characters and making it a good story. As much as I celebrate diversity, it's not enough for a book to be diverse. It has to have a solid plot and complex characters. That's exactly what The Steep & Thorny Way has. It is both diverse and genuinely good and I applause Ms. Winters for that.

There's some heavy themes like racism and homophobia, and I appreciate that they were addressed. I'm very sickened at the idea of all the bigotry that existed in the United States long ago. Honestly, some of that bigotry still exists today but it was so much more blatant back then and it sickened and disgusted me that people could be so full of hate. Yet I'm glad that the author shone a light on the bigotry that existed back then instead of ignoring it.

I really like Hannalee, she's strong and resilient and so likable. Also like Joe a lot.

There's a lot of action and it was so exciting and also kinda scary. I didn't know who to trust.

Tl;dr version- A well-written historical fiction with a diverse and likable set of characters, lots of action, and deals with heavy themes. Highly recommend. I only took off a star because I didn't quite love it, but I still liked it immensely.

This 1920s retelling of Hamlet set in rural Oregon with a biracial heroine more than lives up to its premise. I have family there and was thrilled to see how true to the setting this book is -- the woods and creeks, the brambles, the sense of emptiness and isolation paired with small-town "everyone knows my business" paranoia ... It's excellently done, and it's a great background for a Hamlet retelling. Hanalee's voice is engaging and unique without going overboard on the quirkiness, and she felt like a real teenager under way more stress than she deserved. She gets anxious, and makes rash decisions, and I was pulling for her every step of the way.

Would have been five stars except that some of the threat scenes felt a little too voyeuristic -- like we were supposed to enjoy watching our main characters be hurt by the antagonists. That's a particular pet peeve of mine, but your opinion may differ.

I am listening to Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye and reading Can You Forgive Her by Anthony Trollope and The Steep and Thorny Way by Cat Winters!

I'll also be doing some sewing (still working on that Halloween quilt) and container planting! The weather is shaping up beautifully in the Pacific Northwest.

Happily Ever After  - Kiera Cass – 5 Stars

Delightful Selection fluff that reminded me why I love this series after the immense disappointment of The Heir. 4 short stories – The Queen – Amberley’s story. This one I’ve read and reviewed once before, a few scenes of how Amberley and King Clarkson got together. The Price – some Selection scenes from Maxon’s view point. The Guard – my least favourite as this was Aspen’s story and I really really do not like Aspen at all and The Favourite – Marlee’s story. Also included are a few scenes from Lucy’s POV. I like Lucy, but her relationship with Aspen felt like unnecessary insta love to get Aspen over America. Because of course it’s obvious from the start of this series what America’s destiny is. There’s also a few scenes from Celeste’s POV. Some absolutely lovely art work scattered throughout of various scenes throughout. There’s a map in front of the book done in the most lovely pink and purple ink. The hardcover itself is so pretty, and purple!

Square crossed off: Book Towards Another Challenge (this was my purple themed cover for Story Sprites Round 3)

Court of Fives – Kate Elliott – 5 Stars

Brilliant fantasy novel. Great family dynamic between the main character, Jess and her mother and sisters. Incredible sense of place, brilliant world building, including religion, status, and every day life. The plot includes a competition of both mental and physical ability which can be run by both men and women but not someone of Jess’s family’s precious social status. Very well written, very gripping and hardly any romance and what romance there is is something Jess uses to help her family when they are in mortal danger. Exciting and intriguing, intricately plotted world of adventure and fantasy politics with a great cast of characters.

Square Crossed off: Number in Title.

Awake At Dawn (Shadow Falls #2) C.C. Hunter – 4 Stars

Second book in the Shadow Falls series. Following on shortly from the first book the continuing saga of Kylie’s daily life at the camp and her search for whatever paranormal species she really is. For a paranormal romance, the writing and the dialogue is very well written and extremely realistic and relatable too. Several different plot developments and twists as Kylie learns new things and relationships develop, and some scary stuff happening as well. This series manages to mix some series side and light hearted romance and humour. Though the final events did feel a tad bit rushed, and I’m hoping they will be explored in the more in the next book. More questions than answers, but a very good series.

Square Crossed off – Characters are Not Human

An Inheritance of Ashes –Leah Bobett – 2 Stars

A very weird dystopia. This one made no sense whatsoever. It’s got a very bleak the world has ended feel to it, but there’s no history and whatever world building there is was confusing as hell. Some sort of war had taken place and from the sound of it the good guys had won. But the bad guy still had weird creatures showing up and attacking the farm where the heroine and her sister lived. Dull and boring. I can’t even remember the plot of this one that clearly. Just that it was bleak and I didn’t like it.

Square Crossed off: End of the World (I may wind up reading something else for this square)

The Steep And Thorny Way – Cat Winters – 3 Stars

A unique Hamlet retelling. Set in 1920s Oregon. Hanalee is struggling to come to terms with the death of her father and the fact that her mom has moved on and married a white man. Hanalee is mixed race and at this particular town in this time that can be a very dangerous thing. Hanalee is all fire and determination. Though a revelation from the boy who was convicted of her fathers’ murder set in motion the fact that nothing is quite as it seems. Doesn’t stick to the Hamlet storyline exactly. I kept thinking – almost everyone dies in the end of Hamlet – I like this girl – how is this going to work? But it’s easy to see where the Hamlet parallels come in. The mystery is absorbing and the historical detail is very good. There’s an interesting author’s note as well about Oregon history and the law. Unpredictable and surprising.

Square Crossed off: Retelling

Anna and the French Kiss – Stephanie Perkins – 5 Stars.

I’ve read this four times now. (Though for some reason I’ve only got it marked down as twice on Goodreads and three times on Booklikes). I found my original review here. 

It’s my go to book whenever I’m sick or sad. It’s fluffy and fun (and yes I know St Clair is a bit of  - well,  a lot of – a dick at times) but I don’t care. It’s still one of my favourite books ever.

Square Crossed off – Set in More Than One Country

Burn Baby Burn – Meg Medina – 4 Stars

A brilliant coming of age story set against the background of the summer of 1977 in New York. While the story itself is fictional, it’s set against some very real things that happened. The Son of Sam murder spree, an unseasonable heatwave, blackouts, arson attacks, and women’s rights movements. Nora is a very mature and well written character in a horrible home situation. Her brother has become a drug addict and as a result is a criminal and violent and her mother is turning a blind eye to it. They’re struggling to make ends meet, Nora just wants to turn 18 and move out. She has a good best friend, a steady job but doesn’t quite know what to do after high school. She and her BFF have their 18^th birthdays coming up and they just want to be able to go out and dance all night at the disco. Some delightful 70s pop culture references throughout. On top of all these Nora has to deal with all these other things happening, the heat, the terror of a serial killer stalking the city, being in the cinema when the big blackout hit…Very moving, good storytelling. A very interesting author’s note at the end about the real things that happened during that summer and how they tied into Nora’s story.

Square Crossed off: Based on Real Events.