I enjoyed this LGBTQ western book that touches on social issues. I read it in one evening as I had to see what would happen.

I really enjoyed this!
I liked the concept of outcasts banding together... even if it was to do illegal activity.
I love how it tackled feminism, infertility, gender identity, gender roles, religion, inclusivity.
The setting was also very fun. The good ol’ Wild West.
It was a well written, fast paced story that hooked me from the beginning.

In this alternate history western, a plague hit the United States in the 1830s, wiping out a large portion of the population, dissolving the US government, and rendering many people infertile. This allows fundamentalist religion to run rampant and guide every day life. This story takes place in 1894 when many people still struggle to have children, and the blame for this is always laid upon the mother. If a woman does not get pregnant within the first year of marriage she is declared barren and they are routinely hanged as witches. Ada, the daughter of the town’s midwife, is finding out firsthand how unfair this life is after failing to become pregnant after her marriage. When she is thrown out of her husband’s home, she escapes to a convent known to Harbor bar and women. But she wants more out of life, and so she leaves the convent to join the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang, a band of outlaws led by the Kid. The gang harbors women and teaches them how to survive in this world (how to ride a horse, shoot a gun, dress and act like a man, and how to fight).

So overall I thought this book was fine. I definitely had issues with some of the themes, but for a reader without my views this could certainly be a four star read. I didn’t realize going into this book how pervasive religion was in the story; religion and Jesus are constantly being brought up and discussed, and that’s just not something I enjoy reading. I also never understood why no one ever seems to question that the infertility in a marriage could be because of a husband, not the wife. And why is it that after so many women are kicked out of their homes that they still believe in this oppressive religion? Why don’t they question this? I understand that it’s what they’ve known for their whole life, but it still really doesn’t make sense to me.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bloomsbury Publishing for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I was excited when I realized that the author of Outlawed also wrote The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, which I loved. Outlawed did not wow me in the same way. It felt uneven. It is set in the late 19th century in what seems to be the southwestern United States in a community where women are labelled as witches if they don’t have children. At 19, Ada is banished from her family and community because she still has not had a baby after a year of marriage. She finds her way to a group of other women who have been banished and live on the proceeds of crime. I liked the first third in which we see Ada with her family and the community that turns on her. But I found that the rest of the book tried to do too much. There was a lot of action and adventure. The story cycled — too quickly and superficially in my opinion — through a lot of issues — like racism, mental illness, homophobia, etc... And, other than Aida, we never really get to know the characters other than quite superficially. I read this as a buddy read with Angela and Diane. As always, it’s great to share the reading experience even if we don’t necessarily agree. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

Thank you Bloomsbury and Shelf Awareness for the gifted e-copy.

Outlawed is a book with a great premise and not so great execution. Taking place in a different America, where a flu has wiped out a bunch of the population, emphasis is placed on child bearing, Women are married off rather young, and are expected to pop out the babies right away. If they don't have a baby within a year or so, they are considered barren, and probably kicked out of their husband's home, and accused of being a witch.

This very thing happens to Ada, and she escapes to a convent, which really isn't for her. She wants to learn the reason behind some women not being able to have children, as she was training to be a midwife, and is fascinated by the science. She leaves the convent to join a gang of outlaws at the Hole in the Wall - and turns out that these outlaws are in fact a bunch of (barren?) women that dealt with the same thing as Ada. Led by the Kid, a seemingly nonbinary character with no pronouns at all, the group of gender bending outlaws lives on their own and robs passers by to make a living. Ada finds it hard to fit in and find her place amongst the group - and to earn their trust.

The Kid is dealing with some mental issues (bipolar? schizophrenic?) and wants to rob a bank, then use that money to buy the bank back. It's a grandiose plan, and puts all of the outlaws at risk.

I enjoyed the premise of the story, but thought it was just a bit slow. It was an entertaining read though, and a great take on a Western. I did like the LGBTQ+ aspect to it.

📖A young woman is forced out of her home and her town after she is unable to become pregnant because her town believes her to be a witch who is cursing the other women in town. She joins up with a band of other barren women of color, queer women, and gender nonconforming outlaws and struggles to find her place among them.
👍The cast of characters are all easy to love and become invested in. You definitely get attached to Ava, the main character, and the rest of the Outlaws. There are a lot of interesting dynamics in terms of gender and sexuality that I never get tired of reading about. And it’s a western! We love a queer feminist western.
👎 The downside to getting invested in all of the side characters is that you never really get enough time with them. I want to know more about The Kid and News and everyone else in the cast. There were also some pacing issues towards the middle but the ending was more than exciting enough to make up for it.
⚠️mild content warnings for pregnancy, miscarriage, and other medical trauma, queerphobia, racism, violence, disfiguration, and death.
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THE VERDICT
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚Recommended for anyone who has ever wanted to see what would happen if Sarah Gailey wrote The Handmaid’s Tale.
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Thank you to @netgalley and @bloomsburypublishing for providing me with a digital #reviewcopy

Thank you netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

I have very mixed feelings about this one - I really struggled through the first half of this book. To be honest, I found it kind of boring, and felt like the pacing was really off. I think too much time was spent on Ada’s life before becoming an outlaw, and her voice was very flat. Things definitely picked up a bit when we met the rest of the gang, but I didn’t feel like enough time was spent developing them as people. It was a very diverse group, with so many different experiences - gender, sexual identity, and race were a huge part of this group, and I wish we had gotten more development in that area. These characters deserved more time than they got.

I did love the ending, which is why I ended up giving this book 3 stars. The second half was a lot faster, and I loved the relationship between Ada and Lark. The way everything comes together in the last little bit of the book really touched me and even made me a little bit emotional. There was some really good pay off, even if it got off to a rocky start.

When I first saw Outlawed pop up on my radar in April 2020 I had just recently read Upright Women Wanted and I loved the idea of another queer Western novel. Where Upright Women Wanted is a near-future dystopia, Outlawed takes place in an alternate, late 19th century United States where a quasi-Christian religion values reproduction above all else.

"We had read Burton's Lessons of the Infant Jesus Christ every year since third form, so we had heard about how God sent the Great Flu to cleanse the world of evil, just like he'd sent the flood so many centuries before. We knew that baby Jesus had appeared to Mary of Texarkana after the sickness had killed nine of every ten men, women, and children from Boston to California, and struck a covenant with her: if those who remained were fruitful and peopled the world in His image, He would spare them further sickness, and they and their descendants forever after would be precious to Him."

Just as in our real world, the world of Outlawed is peopled with those who are not cis, heterosexual, and/or fertile, but if a person doesn't fall into these expected categories they are run out of town, hanged, and/or violently assaulted. Main protagonist, eighteen-year-old Ada has been accused of witchcraft due to her failure to become pregnant and accusations from the community are leading to whispers of her hanging. Sent out of town to a convent Ada begins to research the true reason behind barrenness (medical not religious *gasp*) and then risks a journey beyond the convent to seek out rare medical texts. When she comes upon the camp of The Hole in the Wall Gang, she realizes there is something different about these outlaws.

I loved that this novel integrated themes of mental and physical health, intersectional feminism, and opposition to patriarchal expectations but I did have a few problems with not mixing up the characters. I think this is due to the author's intention of showing how each character initially confuses Ada with their sexuality and demeanor. I also think that too many characters are introduced at a single time (when Ada meets The Whole in the Wall Gang) but they are not given enough descriptors to firmly establish each character in readers' minds. My advice is to take a few notes about the characters as you read.

The rise of fiction literature for the LGBTQ community reflects a high demand for works that reflect the nuances and complications of their lives that are missing from works written with straight people as the characters in the narratives. Outlawed provides an interesting look on a treasured western tale of the Hole in the Wall Gang, aka Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, turning it into a tale that upends the traditional western narrative. Not only do the main characters ride, shoot, rob, and live like outlaws, they create a safe haven for themselves at a time when women who were "different" were outcasts from society. The story told through the eyes of Ada, a barren young woman and herbalist, offers an interesting perspective of the 19th century West in America.

Daughter of a midwife, Ada learns quickly how precarious life is for women who are different. Midwifes, herbalists, barren women become suspect under the tight norms of gendered roles. Any suspicious behavior can cause family, friends, and the town to denounce and punish the offender. Fleeing from her failed marriage and town gossip about her suspicious behavior, Ada takes refuge in a convent. There she finds a treasure trove of knowledge, the convent library, and uses it expand her medical knowledge. Soon she must flee from there and ends up taking refuge with the mysterious Hole in the Wall gang, a secretive outlaw gang hiding in the wilds of the Dakotas. The tale takes some very interesting turns and provides an alternative narrative to the very patriarchal narrative of the American West.

Outlawed blends women's history with the fictionalized story of women living on the fringes of society. Some of the information was fascinating such as the way medical books and writings of the time categorized women and their ailments. Ada's mother, a midwife, tells of the trials and tribulations of birthing for women. As Ada shares "Mama says at every birth, death is in the room. You can try to ignore it, or you can acknowledge it, and greet it like a guest, and then you won't be so afraid anymore." Such a true statement for women throughout history who often feared the birthing chamber. The novel lampoons many misguided or just outright stupid ideas about gender and also race such that "mixing blood" creates deformed children. The historical part of the novel is interesting and catches the reader's attention.

Ada's story, told in first person narrative, is flush with excitement and strange encounters. Her life as a cross dresser and trying to pass often conflicts with her inner self. But her adventures as a woman living outside the bounds of traditional gender roles and norms adds an interesting entry into the field of LGBTQ historical fiction. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 due to sometimes the storyline gets muddled a little bit. All in all, a very different book.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

This was a step outside my reading comfort zone - I don't read a ton of Westerns. We follow Ada, a midwife-in-training, as she's ostracized from her husband and community, tries on convent life briefly, and joins a gang of outlaws when that doesn't fit. The group she settles in with is largely women also looking to escape the expectations of their gender and build something new for themselves in the wide open spaces of the west. This felt fresh and modern without becoming anachronistic. The ending feels abrupt and hand-wavey - I wanted to spend more time with the band of outlaws as Ada gets to become a respected part of the team, and I could have used at least one more chapter wrapping up where we leave Ada. That said, it feels like there's space for another novel in this same world left at the end, so hopefully we get more time with the Hole in the Wall gang soon.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me read and review Anna Norths newest edition, “Outlawed”. This story was not what I was expecting in an amazing sort of way. A woman in the late 1880s running from not only the law but from the life she wants to know more about. Continuing her life on the run with people that are also still learning about themselves. This story allows you to feel what it’s like for a woman to live in a mans world and take advantage of what could be.

I had a like/love relationship with the characters and how they were adapted through the story. I found the ending a lopsided. It was simple and easy. The complete opposite of Ada’s character.

Overall, the book was a lot of fun and different. This was my first western genre read.

I’m not a huge fan of westerns in general, but I find I do really enjoy westerns that are more speculative and inclusive, like this one. The story was well paced and kept me engaged throughout, although there was a lot going on. I would also be really interested in reading more about Ada where this book leaves off, because I think North has many more ideas to explore.

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the advance copy.

***eArc provided by NetGalley & Bloomsbury Publishing in exchange for an honest review***

Outlawed is the story of Ada, a young woman in the late 1800s, at nearly the turn of the century, who must escape her hometown, leaving behind her family, because she's accused of witchcraft. She eventually finds herself in the Hole in the Wall gang, a diverse group led by the Kid.

The story itself is remarkably short for how much Anna North manages to pack into it. My favorite part of the entire reading experience was the voice. I have a great interest in literature based in the American West, but never feel like it's either modern enough to be understood without a deep education, nor inclusive enough to reflect the way of the world. North manages to make the prose feel both modern but within genre, and to decorate the story with important characters who aren't simply straight white men and women. North doesn't shy away from the racism that existed (and still exists), but manages to create a old timey gang that the audience can understand the existence of. There's no doubt in your mind why the Hole in the Wall gang exists.

My biggest complaint was the eArc itself, as the file made it a bit difficult to read. I hope the final digital version of the book has been checked through before it comes out.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and Net Galley for a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

It truly was a different type of Wild West in this altered version of history where barren married women are vilified. I enjoyed this story of Ada and the Hole in the Wall Gang and how they worked towards changing their destinies.

This book is... a lot. Queerness, fertility and some weird romance. It's described as The Crucible meets True Grit but I would say it's The Haidmaid's Tale + Young Guns + True Grit.

Excellent.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Outlawed was my final read of 2020 and it was such an excellent note to end on. This queer, feminist western is equal parts magical, heartfelt, and fun. I rooted for the whole cast of characters and was fully transported to another world while reading it. And the writing is so sharp — Anna North will be an author I’m excited to read more from. Truly a perfect book to end the year on.

This is absolutely wonderful! North has created memorable characters, great atmospherics, and a plot that will keep you turning the pages. It's 1894 and Ada, chased from her husband and family because she is barren (and named as a witch), finds refuge first in a convent and then with Kid and a band of women at the Hole in the Wall. Daughter of a midwife, she's determined to bring good informed care to women. The gang, which survives by robbing, trains her to ride a horse and shoot a gun, as well as other things. She in turn provides for their medical needs. A plan to rob a bank becomes a huge thing and no spoilers from me on what happens. North spools out the back stories of the other women and of Lark, a man who works with them, slowly and you will be surprised. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I'd put this aside because I wasn't especially interested in a Western but wow was I happy to have read it. Highly recommend.

I was almost surprised how much I ended up enjoying this. I knew I would like the feminist Western aspect, but I was worried about the super patriarchal society that revolves so heavily around pregnancy because that kind of thing is often a trigger for me. I think the author did a good job using it for world building purposes and to set the stage but also never really getting explicit enough with any of it to put me off the book any point [although your mileage may vary]. Really enjoyed the main character and the heist aspects and would definitely recommend to anyone who liked Upright Women Wanted.

This was an interesting story, but I struggled really getting into it. I found myself easily setting the book down, and not super interested to pick it back up. I think that the world-building was lacking something that would really place me into the world and help me visualize it. I didn't realize it was a dystopian world for a while.

I really liked the MC, Ada, and I wanted to know how her story ended. I liked the western elements, and I really enjoyed the Hole in the Wall gang.

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

This is a hard book to review. I loved this queer telling of strong outlaw women and their Hole in the Wall Gang. What bothered me is how they got there. Don’t get me wrong speculative fiction is wonderful but it seems there is always a terrifying patriarchal society that abuses women. Here women are deemed useless or witches if they cannot reproduce. Still the gang and their misadventures are exciting and the main character Ada is likable and intelligent. Add to that the “Kid” who led the gang and could be an entire story unto their own.
All in all I recommend this book. It is a quick read with that twist on history. Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for this ARC.