Incredibly captivating, indescribably powerful. Victor LaValle cannot write a bad book, or a book that does anything less than linger for a very very long time!

There was a LOT going on in this book and all of it was riveting!

It is a unique blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and who knows what else, but it was an incredible read!

Adelaide is a badass for the ages. She was such a conflicted protagonist and I loved that about her!

I also really enjoyed all of the strong female characters that the book featured. It was very girl power, but not done in an annoyingly cliche way.

Thank you to #netgalley for this ARC of Lone Women!

I really enjoyed this book! I’m normally not scared easily but this book did give me chills. The story starts every quickly and there is a little bit of slow moment towards the middle. Overall I loved it!

I received an early netgalley copy, but decided to go with the audiobook from my public library. I'll tell you, I was not expecting to like this one as much as I did. After seeing so many rave reviews for it, I had to give it a go. So happy I did. The narrator of the audiobook was Joniece Abbott-Pratt and she was perfect.

What a creepy, original book/audiobook. This was a mash up of genres such as HF, horror, supernatural, and western. I thought the premise was very original and I was definitely really creeped out at points. The beginning of this was crazy and tense. I was immediately invested. If you want to try something completely unique I'd definitely recommend this one.

Out now!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. My review will be posted on Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads, and Amazon.

1915 Montana - Homestead Act that allows people to take possession of a section of land and if it produces a crop after 3 years, the homesteader can claim the land as his. There really were lone women who did this in the brutally harsh winters of Montana. That said, this story went of the rails with this silly horror story and even this historical part did not feel believable.

My thanks to Net Galley and One World Publishing for an advanced copy of this e-book.

{NGkindle, Libby audio, BOTM hardback}

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. While it is described as horror, it covers a range of genres. I think this story is best experienced by not knowing much going in. In addition to an interesting and well paced plot, there are great characters and a palpable setting. This is my second Victor LaValle book, and I definitely plan to read his backlist. Highly recommended!

In the badlands of 1915 Montana, Adelaide Henry arrives to stake her claim. After burning down her childhood home, with her dead parents still in it, Adelaide sets out with only 1 steamer trunk and an iron will. Will she be one of the very few women to succeed at her goal? What is she running from? And most importantly, why are there noises coming from the locked trunk? You’ll have to read this to find out!

I’ve been a fan of Victor LaValle for some years now and he never fails to impress me. His tales are usually creative, beautifully written, and they always make me think. Here, issues of class and race are examined but also what it means to be family, and the terrible consequences of secrets.

This started out as historical fiction, then morphed into something with a western feel, then it turned into a mystery, and then…you know what? It has a little bit of everything! Sprinkled throughout are a few violent scenes, but it’s not the overall focus.

I had a great time reading this and Adelaide Henry is a character I was rooting for. She’s a badass in the band lands. You should get to know her!

Highly recommend!

*Thanks to One World, NetGalley and the author for the e-Arc in exchange for my honest feedback. This it it!*

This is one of my favorite authors and by gosh he did not disappoint! Seems as though I experienced every book genre but the author knitted them all together seamlessly. Adelaide will stick with me for years like Mama Ruby has from The Upper Room. From the first page you will be pulled into the story. #lonewoman #netgalley

I’m, unfortunately, a little bummed I didn’t love this book more.

What started out as a compelling read for me ended up completely dissolving at around the 50% mark. The set up was so strong and I was so excited to learn more about this mysterious “monster,” but the story ended up being more about everything else happening in the town and the monster was just pushed to the periphery. The storyline and purpose of each scene were also hard to follow at times, resulting in what felt like a disjointed puzzle.

That said, the writing quality was strong and I could see the author’s skill was well-suited to portray the darker themes that appear in this novel. I will absolutely try more of his work in the future.

Lone Women by Victor LaVelle was a wild, monster-ridden ride. This book can fit into so many subgenres – horror, mystical realism, historical fiction, thriller, mystery, etc. It essentially has two completely different halves. The first ~60% of this book is a slow, atmospheric introduction to Adelaide Henry, parts of her past and the small Montana town that she moves to and homesteads in. The second portion of this book is a fast-paced, thriller that you can’t say too much about without ruining anything. But I will say the way that the author builds this book is magical and awesome.

There are so many things that I love about this book. I loved the first part where the author wrote so lyrically and built a beautiful and menacing scene. I loved the second part of the book where plots just start exploding everywhere and you get a plethora of POVs. This book is horrifying, mysterious and thrilling. The last half of this book flies by and you end up feeling like you have whiplash several times over, but you kind of like the sensation.

I will say that this book is not for everyone. Pay attention to any of the content warnings, to name a few there is racism, murder, mobs, sexism, classism and homophobia. This is ultimately a horror book with quite a lot of gore described, so if that is something that triggers you, please do not read this book. That being said, I loved this book and I think that it is a wonderful read because of all the content warnings I listed above. It delves into so many issues we have as a human race, but does so in such an original way.

Overall, I deeply enjoyed the author’s writing and storytelling. The way that the story was told was original and left me so satisfied. I will definitely be watching for more books by Victor LaVelle and will be checking out his past works.

This book was awesome. I loved that all of the women were so tough and that they were fighting against not only the land and mysterious happenings but also persecution based on gender and ethnicity. Adelaide was a pretty likable character for most of the time, but she became more interesting as we learned about her burden farther. Great writing and a lot to talk about in this novel.

OooOOoooeeeee, this was so much fun!

A lone woman is traveling through the windy plains of Montana, searching for an isolated location where she can "homestead," having just ran from two parents that she left for dead, & traveling with only a mysterious trunk in tow that is inexplicably heavy, and very thoroughly locked.

I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, I just knew I wanted to read it and wow, I was pleasantly, pleasantly surprised. I read LaVelle's other more popular book 'The Changeling,' which I enjoyed, but 'Lone Women' was soOooO much better!!! This was just deliciously demented, and it covered so much ground too, touched on some relevant issues, was set in what I felt was a very interesting timeframe in history. I thoroughly enjoyed this...the tension, the setting, the characters... 5 stars all around.

I've already added everything Lavelle has ever written to my TBR.

I didn’t really like this. I’m glad to see so many positive reviews because it is so unique but it just wasn’t for me.

I did like the writing. It may seem historical fiction but the writing was so accessible. Also, it was way more horror that historical.

I see people say they had to read through to part 3 to figure out what was in the trunk but I thought it was obvious within the first few pages.

Sometimes You Create the Monster

I was unprepared. I picked up the book at the last minute, sadly unfamiliar with the author, but there had been some positive feedback floating around. It came with the horror label attached and I was frankly a little worn out with some recent over-the-top experiences in the genre.

““Wanna fly, you got to give up the **** that weighs you down.”—Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“Lone Women” opens with Adelaide burning down her house– along with the corpses of her mother and father. She is a black woman headed alone into the badlands of Montana, aiming to homestead on a piece of property just outside the remote town of Big Sandy. The only thing she is taking with her is a large, heavy trunk… a thing of secrets.

Early on I almost forgot the horror tag. Adelaide is such a compelling figure in a challenging situation there seemed no need to rely on the crutch of a Michael Myers or Freddie Krueger monster. Little by little things start to change, however, and the secret burden Adelaide has been bearing her whole life is uncovered. We are finding monsters– old and new.

She runs across other lone women, women forging lives against the odds in a harsh male-dominated existence, and– although her life has been starkly isolated– she cannot resist the urge to confide in her new companions. These women are not the characters you read about when dusting off journals of our wild wild west. “But that’s only because history is simple. And the past? The past is complicated.”

The author, Victor LaValle, won the Shirley Jackson Award for best novella a few years back. The tone here is reminiscent of atmospheres Shirley Jackson conjured up, vibrations steadily increasing the feeling something is terribly wrong in this world. I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful mix of historical fiction, western folklore, and… horror.

Sometimes you create the monster.

Thank you to One World, Random House, and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #LoneWomen #OneWorldBooks #RandomHouse #NetGalley

Lone Women was a perfect blend of horror, western, historical fiction and mystery that I didn't know I needed! The short well written chapters made the book very readable (and I just had to know what was in the trunk). I loved the strong women this featured!

Lone Women is unusual, unsettling, and haunting. It's a genre-bending story about a Black woman named Adelaide Henry who leaves her home in California in the 1800's to settle on a claim in the desolate landscape of Montana, carrying with her a past full of secrets and a steamer trunk that cannot be left unattended for suspicious reasons unknown.

This is an atmospheric novel above all else, and I've never read anything quite like it. It's hushed. Suspenseful. Eerie. Vacant. There's a lingering sense of disquiet that permeates from the first page, ushering readers into Adelaide's world at a time when homesteading was starting to take off and women could set out west to make new independent lives for themselves.

I liked the historicism this provided, with me being bestowed with the opportunity to journey along with Adelaide as she braved the harsh conditions of the midwest alone and as she collided with some strange folks along the way. I also liked the women supporting women camaraderie that was both founded and championed, because it proved to be a satisfying foil to the secluded, dangerous-feeling atmosphere the characters abided in.

For me, though, I will say the most propulsive thing about the whole book was waiting to learn what was hidden inside the trunk. That's what gave the story its pulse. That's what gave it a creepy and windswept little heartbeat.

Definitely one you should pick up if you're looking for something different!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Title: Lone Women
By: Victor Lavalle

Red Flags:
Gore, Horrific, Death, Killings

Excerpt:
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who live with shame and those who die from it. On Tuesday, Adelaide Henry would've called herself the former, but by Wednesday she wasn't as sure.

Summary/Review:
Alarmingly, Adelaide Henry leaves her home, with nowhere to go, she boards a train from California for Montana. Dragging her steamer trunk behind her, she gets a wagon to drop her in Big Sandy, Montana. Adelaide becomes a homesteader, and neighbors frequent in the beginning. The rest of the story is to be read, at your own risk. I hate spoilers.

I read this book thinking it was a Historical Fiction, but somehow this author creates a Historical Fiction novel blended with Science Fiction and Horror. It is not for the faint of heart…me! It is not a light, fun read. However, if you are looking for a fast paced, magically horrific weaved storyline, then this book is for you. I may not have preferred the storyline or content, but the author has unique talent. This is why I continued the read, and left a three star review.

Thank you to Victor Lavalle, Random House Publishing Group, and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#reluctantreaderreads #Lonewomen
#horrificreads #horrorreads
#netgalley #victorlavalle

It's so difficult to categorize this story because it could fall into so many different genres. Suffice it to say that it was a real page turner that I couldn't stop reading. Kudos to the author for writing a truly unique story that defines being pigeonholed. Read it!

I love stories that are rooted in feminism and transcend genres, and this gave me all of that with short bingeable chapters and approachable yet descriptive writing. It’s a deceptively simple story that was simultaneously entertaining, thrilling, emotional, and thought provoking. The exploration of themes like family, “othering”, loneliness, and racism were expertly fleshed out without ever feeling heavy handed.

I genuinely enjoyed spending time with these characters in this community.

3.5. This is a solidly creepy Western horror, but I would have cut 50-100 pages of the random characters and alternate POVs (which didn't add much for me) and added some more details about Adelaide's experience on her land and what her surroundings looked like. I'm glad I went in not knowing anything about the mysterious contents of the trunk, though; it made the events that unfolded that much more scary.