Vengeance Road (Vengeance Road #1) by Erin Bowman
Rating: 5/5 stars
My Thoughts:
I’ve never read a western before, and obviously not a YA one. Vengeance Road pleasantly surprised me for a nice, quick five stars.
It starts with a girl named Kate finding her father murdered by a gang of outlaws and her house burned down. Instead of just sitting around, she goes and decides to seek revenge and it’s pretty much amazing.
“Gold makes monsters of men.”
Kate is a total badass gunslinger who despite knowing she’s outmatched and outnumbered, isn’t going to just give in and let the gang get away with murdering her father. Mixed in with Kate pretending to be a boy with two helpful(ish) boys, a Native American tracker of a few words, and a bloody quest for a hidden gold mine, this book is as fast paced and exciting as you could possibly imagine. I loved it.
Also there was romance but it was a side thing, it wasn’t too overtaking and it was natural. Plus the writing was honestly perfect. It gave a strong feel for this time period of cowboys and outlaws. It kind of reminded me of the writing in Blood Red Road but less extreme.
Something you don’t see very often is the fact that this is a standalone! As much as I wouldn’t mind more of Kate, the story did tie up perfectly. And just to round out the love, the cover is extremely beautiful.
