REVIEW: Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on 1st September 2015
Pages: 336
Source: *Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Revenge is worth its weight in gold.

When hers father is murdered for a journal revealing the location of a hidden gold mine, eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers—and justice. What she finds are untrustworthy strangers, endless dust and heat, and a surprising band of allies, among them a young Apache girl and a pair of stubborn brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, a startling truth becomes clear: some men will stop at nothing to get their hands on gold, and Kate’s quest for revenge may prove fatal.
I really struggled with Vengeance Road, and sadly this meant I had to DNF at 220 pages. I was just no longer interested in how it ended, with nothing there to make me want to carry on. I think the cover is beautiful though, it is so intricately drawn and very apt for the novel.

When Kate comes back to find her father has been murdered, she embarks on a dangerous journey to find them, and take her revenge. But what she does not expect is to find two stubborn and helpful brothers, and a young Apache girl as their guide. But will it only be revenge that Kate finds?

I felt the characters in this novel were my main problem. Kate was ruthless and yet emotional, helping those who are honest to her. However, I was unable to connect with her, for as a character she felt underdeveloped. I had so many questions about her and yet she could have easily been a secondary character. Alongside this, Kate felt like she was trying too hard to be someone she was not, which made it hard to figure out the real Kate. Understandably, what happened to her father was horrifying, though I felt she could have set up her revenge plan better instead of just wondering around in the wilderness.

This leads me onto the plot. I don't believe I have ever read a novel set in the western time, which made my disappointment in this novel more apparent. For such a unique plot which had so much potential, I felt the first third was done really well and was rather addictive. However, the rest felt like it dragged on, and I could not see where the plot was actually leading; it just felt as though they were just riding around the desert aimlessly. Not to mention some of it, which I found rather unrealistic, and instead caused me to become less interested in the novel as the pages went on.

Overall a really disappointing read, especially for one which had so much potential.


Comments

  1. Ah, it's too bad this one didn't work for you. I honestly hate those kinds of travel plots where they're just going from one point to the other but nothing seems to happen.

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