Mabry’s lyrical style was hypnotic and I found myself drawn into the vivid and dark world she created.

At the same time, I often found myself wrenched from that world by inconsistent characters and issues with the fantastic elements of the story as well as certain plot devices.

Summary:

In a dystopian American future where the planet is drying up and jobs with it, our duo heads out West to make their fortune chopping maguey on desert ranches. However, these ranches have a dark, every-man-for-himself culture that forces the worst from owners and workers alike. Sarah and James are willing to do whatever it takes to survive and escape to a better life.

The Good:

Vivid setting and astounding imagery, lyrical and dreamlike. I found myself captivated by the way Mabry intertwined Sarah Jac’s cynical wit with the raw beauty and wonder of the desert.

There were so many great one-liners and phrases that stuck with me. SJ and James’ little mantras reminded me in some ways of Six of Crows.

Basically, the writing is awesome.

Leo was an awesome character and I kind of just want a book about him.

I liked the bittersweet message and the open-ended ending. It was wrapped up but still not a clear happily ever after.

The Bad:

Sarah Jac and James’ characters felt very underdeveloped and inconsistent to me. James in particular did not seem to respond to circumstances the same way twice. (For instance, he chastises Sarah Jac for attempting to help people and then later grins at her for doing the same thing simply because it works out well.) It was unclear how much of his actions were the result of a spell, or if a spell even existed. While this uncertainty works in many magical realism stories, in this one it just felt confusing. I think it was necessary to include James’ perspective and would have added a lot to the story.

Sarah was a bit unreliable as well, but I chalked that up to her inner conflict. Still, it bothered me how wanting to help others was established as part of her character–conflicting with the rules of the world she found herself in–and yet she was also perfectly willing to hurt people for material gain or simply because she felt hurt or angry. Her actions with Belle at the end of the book seemed especially ridiculous and out of character. Further depth was necessary into her motivations.

Overall, that’s my main complaint. Many aspects of the story felt rushed or incomplete. For example, if the story was intended to fall into the realm of magical realism, it could have used more allegorical development. It felt too grounded for magical realism, while at the same time not fully embracing fantasy. An easy fix would have been to add more foreshadowing or small scenes showing that magic exists or might exist in this world. For most of the book, it was established that this was simply future America, and magic was not introduced as a topic of consideration until later. Could have been better woven in.

Another issue: James and Sarah’s “need” to pretend to be cousins. This really took me out of the story. At first, it was because nothing of the stakes had been discussed, no reasoning for why this might be necessary. I assumed there must be a good reason, but the one eventually given didn’t really seem good enough. Again, the issue was not woven in with any foreshadowing or showing and was simply told to the reader at a point in the story where it felt too late. Mabry created a world where she simply stated that people are jealous and mean and can’t be trusted but did little to explain why it was so.

The world was described in such a way that it seemed that Sarah Jac and James had no choice other than to come out west and pretend, but at the same time they were described as having jobs back home. At one point and alternative route--to join the caravan group--arises and is never seriously considered. They also have the option to simply leave at many points and don’t. It was perhaps implied that this had something to do with a curse but, again, the fantastic elements were not fully formed enough to make this clear and without a realistic reason for them to stay, I don’t think it falls into the unreality of magical realism.

Overall:

I enjoyed the story. It was fast-paced and I wanted to keep reading, despite numerous question marks along the way. In the end, I was somewhat satisfied but still slightly annoyed/confused.

Honestly, I didn’t like the main characters and I felt this story had a lot of unrealized potential. Nevertheless, the writing was beautiful and it was very unique and refreshing.



You might like this if you like:

the darkness, setting and intensity of Westworld (tv show)

the horses and lyricism of The Scorpio Races (Steifvater)

the duo-in-the-desert vibe of Rebel of the Sands (Hamilton)

The bones of this book resemble other post-apocalyptic young adult stories based on environmental devastation: much of the land has been destroyed by drought and erosion, water is scarce, and fear and religious fervor dominate the zeitgeist. This book goes a bit farther however by adding some improbable developments and inconsistencies that detract from the story. In addition, the main protagonists are very unlikeable, as are most of the supporting characters.

Sarah Jacqueline Crow and James Holt ride the trains getting difficult, low-paying jobs in egregious conditions with inadequate food and water (and nothing, it should be noted, to prevent scurvy) as itinerant workers cutting maguey at farms throughout the southwest. Maguey is a species of agave used in the production of tequila. From the way they talk, this is the only option left for work anywhere, although clearly there is food being grown and produced, railroad cars operating and the fuel for them generated, a clothing industry, a building industry, and so on. This is just one of the gaping plot holes in the story.

We first meet them in the town of Truth or Consequences in New Mexico. They are posing as cousins instead of lovers because, as Sarah explains, any weakness or vulnerability can be exploited to lethal effect in this dog-eat-dog world. After the foreman has a fatal accident in which Sarah was tangentially involved, the two flee by train to a Texas maguey farm called The Real Marvelous, in spite of rumors that this farm is cursed.

They begin by setting up the lie that they are cousins and that they each are attracted to others in the workers’ camp. But bad things start happening, and once again, Sarah and James are at the center of them. This time, however, it is not at all clear they will escape.

Discussion: Although Sarah is deeply offended by the haughtiness she (wrongly) perceives in the daughters of The Real Marvelous, she is a far worse person than those she judges. She is horrifically cruel, selfish, and clingy. Furthermore, Sarah and James not only lie to everyone they meet, but to each other as well. Since Sarah is the narrator, we know a bit about what is going on in her head, but nothing about what is going on in James’s, in spite of his major role in the story.

After a grisly ending, we still are left in the dark.

Evaluation: I didn’t find much satisfying about this gritty story with its unsavory characters and unconvincing world-building.

I really, really liked this! First of all, I really enjoyed the world that Mabry created. There are enough details to make it interesting, without diving into a deep origin story type scenario. I like that we know the world has changed, that the water is drying up and things are hotter, but we are never given specific reasons why. Sometimes too much detail takes away from the main point of the story, which is NOT the dystopian setting!

Our main story centers are our MC, Sarah Jac, and her boyfriend/partner James. They're traveling from farm to farm as work hands, trying to save up enough money to live out a fantasy live that they've been dreaming of. They run into some trouble and have take off at a moments notice, leaving behind their earnings which forces them to start again with nothing. To safe themselves from possible abuse at the hands of other workers, they play off that they're cousins and go the distance in attempting to make the illusion real to others. Sarah pushes James to flirt with and hook up with other girls to help their cover, and it ends up back firing in a big way.

I just really loved this. It had some definite Maggie Stiefvater vibes, without being a copycat of her style. I loved the dystopian setting, the mentions of magic as being something harsh and unharnessed, and the way that it showed young love and devotion in a new way. It presented love as something that could ultimately be your down fall above everything else, which isn't something you often see in YA lit. Their need to cover for each other, to take care of each other, pushed James to someone else and almost tore them completely apart. I also really loved how the ending worked out! It was just really well wrapped up, and not everything was sunshiney and good in the end.

Kudos to Mabry, and I hope to read more from her in the future!