I'm so thankful to have received digital access to Lone Women by Victor LaValle leading up to its publication date of March 28, 2023. I thought this piece of horror and literary fiction was so well done, highlighting the appropriate minority groups, and I can't wait to run to my feed to see what my fellow readers think of this work of art. I am so thankful to NetGalley and Random House additionally for the bookish love.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy of Lone Women by Victor LaValle. I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book, but boy was I glad I did. My mind is blown! History, horror, edge-of-your-seat type of book. It is hard to describe. I would HIGHLY recommend!

Special thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Oh wow for me this book lived up to the hype! I don't think this book can be tied to a genre it has so many.

This book was fantastic. Highly recommended. 4 stars! Maybe 4.5

I think I liked this…. but to be honest I'm mostly still trying to process what the hell I've just read.
This started off strong but I just kind of lost interest after the trunk was opened. There are quite a few side characters that the narration focuses on and I didn't feel they were fully developed.
For a fast read, it's worth picking up even if it's not the kind of thing you'd normally care for. It wasn’t my absolute favorite, but I was definitely entertained.
Highly recommended for those who like reading books that cannot be tied down to any single genre.

*Many thanks to NetGalley for providing my review copy.

Victor LaValle has crafted an unforgettable tale of survival, sisterhood, and secrets. It's hard to review Lone Women without spoiling any of the many twists and reveals so I'll leave this at an emphatic read this book. The story unfolds at a pace that leaves readers constantly question what they know and what will come next. I enjoyed the occasional shifts in narrative to give the readers a glimpse of what's going on in the minds of other characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was SO. GOOD. I'm not usually one to gravitate towards historical fiction, but the short chapters, complex cast of characters, and relentless horror elements drew me in quickly (from the first paragraph, in fact!) and kept me hooked throughout. I don't want to say too much, since I went into this blind and enjoyed it that way, but I love that this book tackled concepts of identity and relationships while also teaching me something about American history. It was fascinating to follow Adelaide to Montana and observe the relationships that other characters formed with her and each other, both positive and negative. Many of the people in this story demonstrate deep flaws and complexities that lend themselves to interesting twists in the plot. Highly, highly recommend, and I definitely plan to pick up another Victor LaValle read soon!

A bizarrely hopeful book about finding your power! I was intrigued from the start and uncertain what would come. As secret after secret was exposed, I continued to get sucked back in. What I thought would be a modern take on a Western turned into a band of misfits taking on their demons - both past and present. I would have loved more about Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Wong as they were very interesting characters! I also felt the end was a tad rushed but left me satisfied. Overall, a great read for many different genres!

Thank you NetGalley, Random House, and author Victor LaValle for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fast paced story with unforgettable characters. While Adelaide doesn't exactly arrive alone to her homestead plot in Montana, the barren, frigid landscape makes life difficult for a Lone Woman. Thankfully she soon makes friends with her neighbor Grace, her son Sam, Bertie the local moonshiner and her partner Fiona. Together these women struggle to survive in the Montana badlands. I don't want to give away too much so I'll leave the plot description there.

In the early 1900s 1914 to be precise, Adelaide Henry left California to homestead in Montana. A simple statement, yes, but it hides so, so much of the great storytelling here. Adelaide brought something with her to Montana, something other than pots or towels. A secret in a large trunk that she won’t, can’t talk about. Instead she begins her new life in the wide open lands, slowly meeting some people in this desolate area. Until things begin to go wrong.

The author blends historical fiction, western tropes and horror to make a very readable, interesting and compelling story that pulls you along, wanting to know what happens next. There are heroes and villains, and, for realism’s sake, many who combine some of both. Why have I never heard of Victor LaValle before? My oversight for sure! I will be looking at his back list now.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the paranormal, some horror without excessive graphic descriptions. The writing simply flows smoothly and the descriptions of Montana’s empty spaces are beautifully eerie.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book was excellent. It draws you in right away and just when you think you know what is going on it changes. Each part was it's own story but also part of a cohesive read. I really enjoyed it all the way to the end. The story is well written and keeps you both right there with the characters and wondering where it will go next. I can't say how much I enjoyed this book. I am going to look up the author's other work.

I'm always interested in historical fiction that highlight how life was for people of color during different time periods, particularly those that follow Black folk. This interest was served in Lone Women which infuses the horror in the main character's heavy family secret along with her lonesome journey as a homesteader in Plains region of the United States.
Overall, I found the novel did a great job in maintaining a desolate experience and atmosphere while also showing how important the few community connections she makes are for her ultimate safety.

Obviously Victor LaValle can write. That's not in question. But I do question whether or not he should be writing from the perspective of a female character. As a woman, I was so scared for Adelaide at every turn. Every time she was alone with a man (especially a white man), I held my breath, but she seemed unfazed by it. Was this the horror I was supposed to focus on in this book? I don't know. But a female character written by a woman would definitely have been more aware of the threat of physical or sexual violence.

This may be my favorite horror book this year - a delightful weird western, it tells a lot of stories very economically and with passion and verve. Elizabeth is a favorite.

I read this entire book, which is uncharacteristic for me because I usually abandon books that I dislike this much. I kept hoping that there would be a point to it. There isn’t. It is not horror. It is not historical fiction. The story of these women could have been told in a realistic manner (without the spooky thing in the trunk) and made a good story. But I just hated the way this was written. The author has gotten great praise. I don’t get it. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

This book wasnt anything like i thought it would be. It was sooo good. I thought it was a historical fiction book and it was sooo much more!

Lone Women is a western historical fiction and horror novel with a splash of WTF. Seriously you'll scratch your head wondering what you've read, but in a good way. I loved it so much! I had no idea that women could land without men around the 1900s. Set on the desolate landscape on the Montana in 1915 where you're miles away from your neighbor, Lone Women focused on women who set out to Montana for their own trace of land alone or ended up alone on their homestead. It's about so much more than that too.

I loved LaValle's writing and found myself transported into the Western landscape through his prose. While this is a very divisive novel on how many feel, I found myself unable to put it down and clamored for a time I could read more. LaValle is a new-to-me author, but I can't wait to dive into his backlist.

Defies description! Best and most original book I’ve read/listened to (audio version—narration was superb) in a very long time. 5 solid stars! I literally can't describe it other than to say that it is was brilliant...and different...and you should absolutely read it (do yourself a favor and get the audio version)! (Note -- I am not an easy grader...I generally give books I really liked 4 stars, because there's always room for improvement, right? Not this time.)

I was really loving the beginning of this story due to my love for historical fiction. And although I knew that something horror-like was coming, I was extremely disappointed once it did.

This is the second novel I've read by Victor LaValle. He is definitely a skilled writer however I felt as though the story could have been more intriguing. Once I got past 100 pages there still wasn't much going on that made me want to continue the novel.

Adelaide Henry burns down her home and flees with a large, heavy truck, heading to the empty land of Montana in 1915. She is there to take advantage of the free land, so long as she can survive long enough to claim a right to it. But in her trunk is her family's secret, one they have kept her whole life, and one Adelaide desperately needs to keep secret in her new home. Adelaide makes friends with the other lone women trying to conquer Montana, but the west is full of dangers beyond the one she is trying to keep secret in her trunk, and Adelaide and her other lone women will be tested in their fight to survive.

LaValle has crafted a great combination of the horror and western genres. He assembled a fantastic collection of outcasts and memorable villians to face off against each other. Presenting a more diverse and progressive version of the West is a lot more fun to read. The tension escalates constantly throughout the three sections of the book. The setting of 1915 Montana is so richly detailed despite the vast nothingness of the character's world. My only complaint is that the ending is a little shorter, but its only because I wanted to spend more time in this world with these characters. I could not put this book down once the twists started coming, and they didn't stop until the grand finale of the book. This book will be great for fans of the horror or western genre who want to explore a little of the other.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy of this great book in exchange for an honest review.