Raqi was raised by her uncle Dodge and his bigoted motorcycle club until after her parents died. As an adult, Raqi must contend with her past, its haunts and hurts in order to heal. This is an outstanding adult debut.

This was a very different read for me but I was hooked from the first chapter.

The story is told in alternating past and present chapters and it’s incredibly raw and heartbreaking. I enjoyed the subtle style of the storytelling and felt that we really got to know the characters and their true selves.

If you’re looking for an MC story that’s different to the norm then this is for you.

Half-Outlaw was a page-turning read. Once I was swept into Raquel’s story, it was hard to turn away. Raqi, a lawyer in California, receives a call one day from Billy, a long ago family acquaintance that tells her that her uncle has died. Billy and her uncle were a part of a motorcycle gang/group called Lawless—the group Raqi was raised around after her parents died and social services dropped her off to her uncle. Even though Raqi has tried to swear off involvement with them, Billy holds a bribe—the address to Raqi’s paternal grandfather. Raquel is mixed race, white and Mexican, and after her parents death, she had no connection to her father’s Mexican side. Billy says he will give her the address if she comes on a grief ride with the Lawless crew; as her uncle’s last wish.

Raqi agrees, putting her work and relationship on hold in pursuit of information about her father’s lineage. Along the way, she recounts difficult memories of growing up with her uncle, who was a drug addict. She also had to deal with countless racist remarks from the Lawless community and fought to belong by helping restore a bike of her own and learning to ride.

Alex Temblador’s strength in this book is the characterization. I felt invested in understanding each player in this situation. Temblador keeps the plot moving as well, using the device of the grief ride to take Raqi to meet different people form her uncle’s life along the way that impacts how she reflects on his life.

I had a little difficulty with the way Raqi was bribed along the way, which could definitely be a realistic situation, but as a mixed character, put her in the place of being at the whim of these racist folks, and often in the middle of violence. And yet, because of the ride and a ending I won’t spoil, many of the Lawless are supposed to have more of a redeeming storyline. It feels uncomfortable to have her serve as a device for the “redemption” of white folks who don’t treat her right. Temblador gets into this messiness, and doesn’t forget to acknowledge how messy it is. The tension of Raqi confronting them is always at the surface of each interaction, but not always expressed.

The way Raqi builds her own self-awareness and comes to a deeper understanding of the manipulations that dictated much of her life is the real heart of the novel. Temblador gives Raqi her autonomy through a series of intense situations at the end that surprised me.

Temblador dedicated this book to others who are finding themselves, particularly mixed folks on the discovery of their own identity. For those navigating shame they’ve internalized and now have to unpack—another difficult to read but important part of Raqi’s journey.

Temblador says “I wrote this book in pain. I sought to better understand the dynamics of love, hate, privilege and power in family structure.” Overall, this all comes through in this novel

Loss and rebirth!

Bikers, codes and belonging. Half Mexican Raqi grew up as the niece of a biker, having been given into the care of her uncle Dodge when she was four. Her mother had been Dodge’s sister. Not the most ideal of childhoods being around an addict but Raqi not only survived she went on to become a partner in a law firm.
Dodge has died and Raqi is called on to take a Grieving ride, not something she wants to do. The club’s leader Billy bribes her by promising the address of her Mexican grandfather at the end of the ride. Raqi has always felt sundered. Taken from a life she barely remembers into quite a different culture for anyone let alone a very young child.
The story is told with glimpses of Raqi’s past seamlessly segueing into the now.
A fascinating tale that introduces magic realism and animism as Ravi’s heritage collides with desert spirituality as she struggles to know who she is and where she comes from, as she yearns to become whole.
Not my usual literary genre, but the change was interesting.

A Blackstone ARC via NetGalley. Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This book was an extremely interesting collision between two very different worlds and cultures, mixed in with a bit of southwestern legend/myth. I really enjoyed the writing style, and how the author didn't shy away from addressing the more difficult topics of racism and sense of belonging. I think many people can relate to the internal and external struggles that Raqi experiences throughout this story.

My favorite thing about this book is probably the found family aspect of it all, and coming to terms with the fact that the people you love are fighting their own demons. Raqi is essentially stuck between two different worlds and two different versions of herself: polished lawyer, and the tough girl raised among a rough biker gang. I also really enjoyed her journey of coming to terms with her past and her present, and her future towards the end of the book. I finished it in a few hours, so it was a quick read, but nonetheless a great story. Overall a 4-star read for me.