Thanks to #netgalley for the advance copy.

I'm not really a Western reader, but this one was worth finishing. It's an alternate American West where "the flu" has killed off 90% of the U.S. population, and therefore women having as many children as possible has because even more important -- enough so that married women who don't produce children are nearly guaranteed to be kicked out by their husbands, and often accused of witchcraft and executed. What a fascinating setting, right?

The protagonist, Ada, is reasonably well-developed, but really none of the other characters are, and while the plot moves along quickly, the events of the big outlaw heist are pretty farfetched. A quick, fun, read, but it isn't one that will leave me thinking about it later.

In the late 19th century the old West is still very much a man’s world….but not the West from old movies. Young Ada, the daughter of a midwife /herbalist, is a newlywed unable to conceive. Nothing is working and the townsfolk are beginning to talk. They do not take kindly to a barren woman when so many children are needed to keep the homestead going. And why can’t she get pregnant? Rumors become more dangerous as time passes – witchcraft? Think Margaret Atwood goes West – in a more speculative yet downhome fashion. 

Ada flees to a nunnery but it’s not a good fit for her. She believes in science not religion. She believes in feminism and an obligation to help others who have endured her trials. She soon joins up with an outlaw bunch – The Hole in the Wall Gang. The members are unique, and their charismatic leader seeks to build a safe haven for women, which may require the occasional robbery or worse. So, will Ada fit it? Is she tough enough? Will her doctoring/herbalist skills suit their needs? And will they give her what she wants; the scientific knowledge and experience to make a difference for women in this very new western warped landscape?

This rousing read makes up in plot for the sameness of some of the characterizations. It’s a wild ride that is unexpected, challenging and open to discussions. Book clubs should be brave and try it. Recommended with 3.5 stars.

3.5/5 Stars

This is a really tricky book to review - on the one hand I really enjoyed the story, the plot and the characters, but on the other I found it slightly underdeveloped.

Outlawed is set in an alternate-history America and follows Ada who, after getting kicked out by her mother in law for not being able to have children and subsequently being branded a witch, goes on the run to become a nun to avoid being prosecuted. After studying childbirth and complications therein, Ada decides to leave and join the notorious gang of women who cannot give birth, led by the nonbinary The Kid.

I really enjoyed Anna North's writing style - it's nothing overly-fancy or flowery but it is certainly effective. I also really enjoyed the take on America's history - the book has a Western style setting, which I loved, and generally follows what actually happened in America, but with some slight changes (including May having 31 days!).

The main theme of the book being women escaping from being persecuted for not being able to have children, and instead forming their own safe community was very interesting, but I don't think that it offered anything all that new to what literature currently discusses that topic. Furthermore, I felt that this book could have been more queer than it actually was (The Kid is nonbinary and is described as being neither male nor female, and there is a side sapphic couple and a male love interest who is achillean), considering how it is advertised. I also had a lot of trouble figuring out who the different side characters were and telling them apart as they all felt rather two-dimensional. The Kid also suffers from some sort of mental illness, and it is never specified exactly what illness that is, and I'm honestly not sure it was treated that sensitively.

Overall, however, this book was a lot of fun. I love books that take place in a 'Western' setting and Ada's story was one that I really enjoyed. However, I think that this book could go through/could have gone through a few more rounds of editing before being published.

Really this would be 3.5 stars, maybe because I thought this would follow a different path than the author did.

This book starts taking place in 1894 after a Great Flu wipes out much of the population and creating many fertility issues, where barren women were often accused of witchcraft. It tells the story of Ada, a young woman, newlywed, and midwife to be, who can't seem to have any children. In order to save herself and probably her family, she sees herself forced to move to a convent and later becoming an outlaw.

The Hole in a Wall Gang is not your typical gang. It's some kind of a queer utopia where even barren women are welcome, where its members are not bound by their gender and are just their true selves. The gang's leader, the Kid, is a great character with a big dream - to found a place, a city, or whatever, where everyone is accepted for who they are. This leads the gang on many adventures and misadventures.

I really liked this book's concept. Having a legendary Western gang full of women who do not play by the rules seemed to be great. However, I had a really hard time coming to like the main character, Ada. No matter what she said and what she did (including her foolish actions with hard consequences), I often found myself looking for the other member's backstories. I wanted to know so much more about News, Texas, Lo, Elsy, and Cassie and their relationships!

Something that also bothered me a little was the length of the first chapters - they were too long and seemed like they had no end!

Still, the finish was quite beautiful. I could settle on knowing only about the gang's finishing story, but seeing Ada making her dream come true was sweet too.

It's a nice and quick read, full of representation. I just wished the author would develop some character's backstories and relationships more, which would have made the book quite perfect for me!

This is not the Hole in the Wall gang you’re familiar with. While the time setting is the same as the one we know, this story has an interesting twist. This gang of outlaws are all women. Women have one function, producing babies. If they can’t they are cast aside, replaced or worse, accused of witchery and killed because of that label. Some are lucky enough to escape their fates by joining a convent but not all wanted to be part of the religious community.  The nuns often directed them to this gang of discards. There is often dissension in the group despite the similar backgrounds that brought them together to live in this community. Trust and their place in the group must be earned, not automatically assured. This tale covers so many topics: misogyny, LGBTQ, women’s rights, religion, racism……..it’s all here. Stir in a heavy dose of life in the wild west and you have a captivating novel that you can't put down.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this read. Queer feminist Western that is well written and engrossing. I recommended it.

As many of the reviewers have indicated, this book is unexpected.  A dystopia set in the past, 1894.  A world where women are breeders, Eugenics and discrimination rules, science is buried, and barren women are pariahs.  The story is about a community of women (mostly barren) who become outlaws in the wild west.  Let's just say that Anna North is a good storyteller, describing the world through the eyes of Ada, a barren woman interested in science, who joins the band of woman outlaws as a doctor.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this book! Outlawed is an amazing speculative Western that really shakes up the Western genre by tackling the patriarchy, gender roles/identity, race, religion, fertility, and medicine in a unique way. The protagonist is irresistible: a no-nonsense, determined heroine, who has the gumption to teach herself medicine from old textbooks. I was so involved in the book I read it in one evening. 

Set in an alternate America, a massive flu has wiped out much of the population leading to a return to a strict patriarchy and a return to witch hunts. With the need to replace the population, fertility becomes a major issue in women’s lives as does keeping children alive. Miscarriages, stillbirths, and the deaths of infants are considered to be caused by witches. Women with fertility issues are cast out, and witches become victims of horrible violence.

Newly-wed seventeen year old Ada loves her husband, and she loves being her mother’s midwifery apprentice. A year later, she remains childless. After she’s denounced as a witch, she’s sent to a convent, where the mother superior determines that  Ada is not nun material. She leaves the convent hoping to reach Pagosa Springs, Colorado, to study with a midwife there.

Instead, en route to Pagosa Springs, she joins the notorious Hole in the Wall Gang, a band of outlaws. The gang seems to be a rough, hard-scrapple group of nonbinary women with no one bound by the gender they were assigned at birth. The Gang is led by a preacher-turned-robber known as the Kid. Charismatic (and probably bipolar), the Kid wants to create a safe haven for outcast women, but the Kid’s plans soon become grandiose and threaten the safety of the Gang.  

What is most refreshing about Outlawed, is the refreshing amount of LGBTQ+ representation.

I really enjoyed this quick read. The characters were continually surprising me. While I felt there could have been more development of characters, it did a good job of giving you a feeling of them, which I think was all that was needed. It was also a timely read. Many in the book had died from the flu, which had left entire towns deserted and, I felt, had lead others into the "old" ways - looking for answers from others, following thought processes that deem those not like you as witches. 

I would love to see this made into either a series or movie. I think it would work well in either format and would allow for the development that I felt was needed to flesh people out a bit. It's one of those things that can be harder to do succinctly in book format. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable read - a bit of a diversion from my normal choices and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read this!

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to someone who enjoyed this genre. I look forward to reading the next work of this author.

Interesting idea with implementation that wasn't the greatest. Don't get me wrong, this book has tons of positives, but there's a few things that really drug down the book for me.

There's a lot to love in this book. It's an alternate History with a twist on Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid and their Hole in the Wall Gang. (Yay wild west influence!) There's a ton of strong female characters (Ada, the lead being one of them). There's some LGBTQ+ Rep. One of the secondary character leads is a POC. There's a decent outlaw plot. There's some societal commentary apparent in discussions of women's roles and race in the new society. 

The latter really drags the book down. There's quite a few areas in which the societal critiques about women's' places in this new world take over the plot. You see, there was this plague that wiped out a lot of the world's population. The U.S. isn't the U.S. we know. There's collections of towns spread out like the wild west. These towns value fertile women and brand the ones that don't fit as witches, and get rid of them through death or jail. The whole book focuses on those women that society has deemed not worthy. Then proceeds to tackle more social issues. All these important issues and the tackling of them, overshadow the outlaw plotline, and disregard (for the most part) those that were forced to conform to societal expectations. 

Additionally, a character directory would be really helpful. There's a lot of prolific (in this world) writers that a thrown around and it would be helpful to have a guide that distinguishes them. Also, we are introduced to the Hole in the Wall Gang in one scene. All of them at once. I found myself struggling telling them apart at times. There were 7 members before Ada joined and only a couple members of the gang stand out. 

Overall, I think this book has a lot going for it. I was just expecting a little more outlaw and a little less societal critiques. If you want a book that steps away from the cis white male narrative of the old west and fuses it with some strong women and LGBTQ+ leads, read this. I'm just not the biggest fan of books that contain too much societal critique (I normally prefer it interwoven with the plot like Jane Austen or Charles Dickens or Mark Twain style).

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to review. I really appreciated to opportunity to step out of my typical reading zone with this New Adult/Adult alternative history retelling!

A queer western handmaid's tale with a focus on infertility that was a nice easy enjoyable read. Recommended.

If you're like me and obsessed with 19th century midwifery, this is the book for you. Even if you aren't like me (which I suspect you aren't), this novel will captivate you. It is simultaneous historical and speculative. There are so many small details that make the setting so convincing and intricate. Ada is a wonderful character. I felt her pain and her triumphs. 

It would be easy to say this is a book about womanhood and fertility, but I would contend it's far more. Outlawed is the story of patriarchy, local politics, disability, medicine, sexuality, love, found family, nature, escape, friendship, and more. 

What particularly struck me about this novel is the amount of LGBTQ+ representation. Outlawed balances discussion of homophobia (it is set in the 1890s) and love. Every book should be about gay cowboys!

In an alternate 1894, a flu outbreak has wiped out the majority of the U.S. population and leaves survivors praising baby Jesus who is certain to continue to spare them if they live righteously and procreate. Girls are raised to understand that their purpose is to marry and have as many children as possible. If for some reason a woman cannot get pregnant, she’s useless at best or a witch at worst. If she loses her pregnancy or has a baby with defects, it must certainly be the witchcraft of a barren woman at work.

Seventeen-year-old Ada has worked her whole life with her mother, the midwife in the town of Fairfield. She’s now happily married and ready to perform her duty of having children but is frustrated as months pass and she doesn’t become pregnant. Ada understands the reasons behind many issues surrounding pregnancy and childbirth but the mystery surrounding the inability to carry a child isn’t one of them. Worried she’ll be kicked out by her husband and his family, she tries everything to become pregnant to no avail. A town won’t let a woman unable to have a child become a midwife and they will eventually begin to blame her for any complications a pregnant woman has.
Her last hope is to leave Fairfield behind and live a quiet life in a convent.
Or… she could join up with the Hole in the Wall Gang: a rag tag group of outcasts choosing to live life on their own terms and known to do some thieving along the way. 
Ada finds herself an outlaw in the gang led by the Kid, hatching a plan to make a future for them all …but may get them all killed in the process.

Outlawed is an amazing speculative Western full of heart and feminism, tackling gender roles/identity, race, religion, and fertility in a fascinating way. I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy historical/speculative fiction and Westerns.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Outlawed is scheduled for release on January 5, 2021.

In an alternate 1894 after a large scale flu outbreak great importance is placed on fertility and women who cannot have children are cast from their homes and often hung for witchcraft. Even her training in midwifery at the side of her mother doesn't spare Ada from being thrown away by the husband she thought she loved when she fails to get pregnant her first year of marriage. Seventeen and suddenly without a home or hope she finds herself seeking refuge with a group of outlaws.

There was so much about this world that I was curious about that I hope more books are written in it especially focusing on women trapped to live as broodmares.  I didn't  think this book suffered from focusing on Ada's experience especially with her being such a wonderfully rich character. Those she encounters in the Hole in the Wall Gang all add nuances to the world building with their stories and desire to create sanctuary.  

This may be speculative fiction but it is still very much a western a heart as well. As outlaws there are heists to plan and plans go awry. This book did not skimp on the action or on the consequences. 

I greatly enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what to expect and found it to be a gripping western adventure with substance to the story, not too deep or dark but also not frivolous. 

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm recommending Outlawed to all my colleagues and patrons! What a great combination of an alternate history/post-pandemic story, with reproductive freedom, gender, and race issues. The women in the story are so resourceful, and the description was so vivid that I felt like I really saw the Mothering Day celebration. This should be a movie.

In a new world with very old world values a woman's only purpose is to bear children. Ada assumes that she too will marry and someday take over her mother's role as midwife.  She does marry but that is where the dream ends as she is barren.  Her husband's family turns her out and she is blamed for being a witch.  Running seems to be the only option - first to a convent and then later to the famous Hole in the Wall to become an outlaw.  These women outlaws are planning something really big and dangerous and as Ada comes to know these women she finds herself being drawn to this life and changing the way the world views women.  Being rejected from everything she has ever known may put her in a position to be strong and be herself - if she can live long enough.  Violence and misadventures follow this group of society rejects in a wild Yee-haw western with a feminist bent.
Readers of UPRIGHT WOMEN WANTED, HOW MUCH THESE HILLS IS GOLD andPLAIN BAD HEROINES will find much to love. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

I would say that this book is reminiscent of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, but not as dark. I described this to my friend like coffee, if Handmaid's Tale is dark, bitter coffee then Anna North's Outlawed is like a couple ticks above that with a dash of cream. 
I enjoyed the way that it was written, different from traditional formatting (first-person viewing everything as it happens). This was written in a way that was more of a reflection. The main character Ada is likable, doing what she had to do to survive in the alternate U.S. timeline. When she makes a mistake, she is not whiney, she seems to grow from it. I believe the other characters, the Hole in the Wall gang, who we get introduced to about a quarter of the way compliment each other and Ada. She does feel their sting being an outsider at first and after her first job, but she works to get back on good graces. 
I would say about the middle way through the book is when is started to drag just a little, but picked back up toward the end.

Thank you to Bloomsbury USA and NetGalley for providing me with an excerpt in exchange of my honest review.

I'm torn between giving this book a 2.5 and 3 stars. The book itself I can't say much on. It starts off with Ada getting married and describing her life briefly over the year. In that year's time, she describes the births she's seen her mother help, describes how her marriage was and how she's a "barren woman" aka she's infertile. 

The book deals a lot more than I was expecting with the concept of infertility and even mentions and talks about menstruations quite a bit. This is the only really specific and positive thing I can talk about as everything else in the book, it was mediocre. It's a "don't hate it, don't love it kind of book"

Although, the ending absolutely was not great at all, I didn't like the ending at all. It felt completely out of place in my personal opinion.

In the town of Fairchild, nothing is more sacred than the baby Jesus. Having children is the most noble thing you can do, and if a woman is unable to get pregnant, she's declared "barren", accused of witchcraft, and typically hanged. Unable to conceive after a year of marriage, Ada escapes a disastrous fate by joining a convent-- a common place for barren women to seek refuge. However, Ada isn't sure she's suited for this life, but no one will let a barren woman become a midwife as she'd been trained by her own mother. There's only one option left-- find the infamous Hole in the Wall gang, a ragtag group of (mostly) women known for their cunning and thievery. But what can she offer them in return to joining forces, and is the outlaw life worth the risks? OUTLAWED kept me up all night and into the next day; I was so immersed and enthralled in North's version of 1894 Midwest America! I feel like right now in pop culture there is a gay, feminist, cowpoke renaissance, and the timing for OUTLAWED couldn't be better suited! So get on your best boots, ready your saddles, and prepare yourself for a true showdown for freedom and adventure.