Book Review: Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

Title: Upright Women Wanted

Author: Sarah Gailey

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Dystopian, Adult Fiction, Western

Pages: 176

Publisher: Tor

Year Published: 2020

Format: Audiobook

"'That girl's got more wrong notions than a barn owl's got mean looks.'

Esther is a stowaway. She's hidden herself in the Librarian's book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her- a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend, who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.

The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing. They'll bring the fight to you."

My Rating: 5/5

I don't think that I've read a lot of short stories that I've loved, but this one was exactly what I wanted. Following nobinary, and LGBTQ librarians in the wild west, while they defend people's rights to love, and for women to just be people? Yes please! Sign me up. I look forward to reading more work by the author and hope to pick up more dystopian-style westerns in the future. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

Title: When We Were Magic

Author: Sarah Gailey

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Magical Realism, Young Adult

Pages: 352

Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Year Published: 2020

Format: Audiobook

"A moving, darkly funny novel about six teens whose magic goes wildly awry from Magic Liars author Sarah Gailey, who Chuck Wendig calls an 'author to watch.'

Keeping your magic a secret is hard. Being in love with your best friend is harder.

Alexis has always been able to rely on two things: her best friends, and the magic powers they all share. Their secret is what brought them together, and their love for each other is unshakeable- even when that love is complicated. Complicated by problems like jealousy, or insecurity, or lust. Or love.

That unshakeable, complicated love is one of the only things that doesn't change on prom night.

When accidental magic goes sideways and a boy winds up dead, Alexis and her best friends come together to try to right a terrible wrong. Their first attempt fails- and their second attempt fails even harder. Left with the remains of their failed spells and more consequences than anyone could have predicted, each of them must find a way to live with their part of the story."

My Rating: 4/5

This was a great foray for me into magical realism. I haven't read much from the genre, and what I had read before I found complicated or to lyrical for my own personal taste. But this features a bad-ass group of girls trying to find a way to fix a problem they weren't even sure how they managed to create. I loved the characters and hearing about their magic. I loved how the story wrapped overall. It was a great read, and I look forward to reading much more from the author.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny