This is my second book by this author. Told in third person and in very short chapters, I flew through it in less than a day. I was worried in the beginning, but Adelaide’s voice quickly pulled me into her story, curious about what was in her mysterious steam trunk. I was not disappointed. I love a good frontier story. Add in the eeriness of western ghost towns, bands of thieves and mysterious creatures and this one had the makings of a wildly entertaining tale.

I really enjoy the character of Adelaide. She’s brave and courageous to head off to the territory of Montana to make a claim of her own. Strange and mysterious things happen to her on the journey. She meets a lot of eccentric people as she endeavors to find a life of her own. Some who are out for themselves and some who understand the importance of community and supporting each other in the harsh environments of winter in Montana.

Recommended to horror lovers who enjoy a bit of the American Frontier.

Thank you to Netgalley and One World Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and One World and Random House Publishing for sending me an eARC of Lone Women!

I’m not gonna lie. I have no idea what I just read. The writing style was really great but the storyline felt like it was all over the place for me. I binge read this and finished it in a day. But I still don’t know how I feel about it. There was so much happening.
2.5 rounded up to 3 stars.

Mr. LaValle has done it again! He has an immersive writing style that just sucks you in and this book is certainly no exception. The imagery, the characters, the plot… it’s amazing and it always blows me away

I have loved all of the books Victor LaValle has written, so I knew I would love this one, too. And I was so right! I loved it so much more than I already thought I would! I loved the horror aspect of the story, but I was also intrigued by the friendship between Adelaide, Grace, Fiona, and Bertie. And Sam! How I loved Sam's part of the story! This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books this year!

If you read the final paragraph of the publisher's summary, you'll note the phrase "magical suspense" and the word "horror" there. And, if you've been following my reading for very long at all, you know that neither of those things is in my wheelhouse. In fact, you'll have heard me say, repeatedly, that I will intentionally steer away from anything where magic is mentioned. But in 2017 I was offered the chance to read and review LaValle's The Changeling, which ended up being one of my favorite books of the year, so I jumped at the opportunity to read his latest work.

Once again, LaValle has convinced me that horror is a genre that I can enjoy, provided it's done well. And LaValle does it well. In The Changeling, LaValle sucked me in with references to fairy tales and literature. Here he lures me in with history, a history he learned about that convinced him to write a book in an entirely new to him setting (his books are, apparently, usually sent in the New York City area). In the first part of the last century, anyone was allowed a land grant in areas of the West that were in need of more settlers. It was not uncommon for single women (including at least one black woman but not Chinese people) to attempt to settle the land, something they had to do for three years before they could claim it as their own.

When Adelaide flees California, she is bound for Montana, a place she has found where she might be able to own land and live in solitude. But Adelaide is running from the murder of her parents, carrying with her a mysterious trunk, and has absolutely no clue how hard life will be in remote Montana, just as winter begins to settle in. She finds herself forced to rely on others and soon makes friends. But the mystery of that trunk soon revels itself, putting Adelaide at risk among people she is only beginning to realize might be a danger.

While this book is set in the past, it manages to address problems that we're still grappling with - racism, the eradication of the indigenous way of life, and sexism. He also addresses other big themes, including sexual identity. LaValle gives readers nothing but strong women in this book, women capable to helping themselves, of defending their lives and property. It's clear from early on that what's in the trunk is a very real monster and that the ghosts Adelaide will later confront are real, they are also symbols of bigger things. It took me actually reading Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus to understand the symbolism in that story but it opened my eyes to the ways writers might use horror to explore bigger themes. LaValle seems to me to be a master at this and at making me cheer for the monster.

I highly recommend this one but my recommendation does come with a warning: like The Changeling, this book is violent, bloody, and gruesome. Weirdly, in LaValle's hands, I'm ok with that as it appears essential to the greater story.

*Thank you for this ARC!*

Lone Women aptly weaves history, horror, and suspense into a beautifully written book, with notes of Western and secrets uncovered.
I thorougly enjoyed it.
Will definitely be looking forward to reading more from this author!

This is one that sounded excellent, but just kept falling flat for me. I tried listening on audio, but I found myself uninterested in coming back to it. After nearly four months of starts and stops, I think I'm gonna call it and ultimately DNF this at about the halfway point. I was hoping for a bit more atmosphere, a bit more execution on the horror-related elements. I may give the author another shot in the future!

Adelaide believes she is responsible for her parents death. She has good reason. Raised in isolation , she isn’t necessarily pretty. She is sturdier than most women. And she travels with a very big , heavily lines trunk. The promise of free land moves her from her home, to the frontier and a life , remote but to her liking. Self reliant and determined she sets up to live alone. It’s a very raw and desolate story. The free land came with a price, lonliness, at times despair, but ultimately a triumph of women’s spririt. The ending will astound you.

Thank you @oneworldbooks @netgalley for my review copy!

📖It’s 1915 and Adelaide leaves her California home and heads to rural Montana. She becomes one of the “lone women” and settles a piece of land in hopes of taming it and claiming it for free from the government. However, her family secret haunts her and threatens to destroy her plans.

💭This was such an interesting read. I loved the mix of horror and historical fiction. It had me so intrigued, especially the second half of the book. I also really liked the remote setting. It gave a creepiness to the story that was perfect for the horror aspect of the book. This would be a great pick to add to your fall reading list.

📚Read this if you like…
Remote settings
Horror/gore
Paranormal elements

I'm a big fan of horror westerns and Lone Women is one of the better ones I've read in some time. Pacing is a bit slow at times but that doesn't stop it from being a powerhouse of a story. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I couldn't stop reading this book! It creatively combines historical fiction with horror and suspense. I sympathized with the characters and became invested in the story, and it kept me wondering who was good and who was evil. It checked all the boxes for me!

Victor LaVelle is one of the best horror writers out there right now. When Adelaide leaves the only home she's ever known in California for Montana, she takes with her a heavy locked trunk . The trunk must go where she goes. . Taking advantage of the goverment's offer of free land she is in for brutal weather. This Novel describes so well the weather and conditions Adelaide goes through alone. She has with her a a secret her family has kept fpr a long time. . when people start disappearing will her secret be revealed? Brutal and beautiful this novel is addicting

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lone Women is a novel that blends horror with historical fiction. The novel's character development is slow-burning, and there is not much character development. I think the novel could have done without a lot of the side characters that didn't fit into the story. During the last 3rd of the novel, I got lost trying to make sense of everything that was happening, and I still don’t really know wtf I read. I think it definitely had the potential to be an awesome story. I also loved the blend of genres!

The books begins with Adelaide burning her farmhouse down and leaving town with just her extremely heavy steamer trunk which remains locked at all times. Adelaide has a secret and this secret has killed her parents. She flees California and heads to Montana to take advantage of free land from the government. Here she must keep her secret quiet or else people will get hurt.

A touch of horror and mildly suspenseful as you’re trying to figure out what is happening. It’s a fast read, diverse characters, entertaining, and a good ending that could lead to a potential sequel.

Worth the read.

Absolutely loved this. Excellent atmosphere, a fun skewering of the Women-helping-white-straight-cis-wealthy-Women culture, a view into history that I just didn't know about at all and commentary on the history-written-by-the-victors.

DNF at 30%

Lone Women is the story of a young woman named Adelaide who after experiencing a horrible accident on her family farm, moves to the rural west with nothing but a trunk she won't open. Most of the horror elements come from this unknown trunk in the story, which left me wanting more. It reads much more like a historical fiction mystery than the horror I was promised.

If you like slow writing, almost nothing happening, and a main character that doesn't do much, you'll like this one. Unfortunately Gothic works aren't for me.

This was an absolutely amazing story! I don't even know if I have the right words to say it. I am truly impressed at how LaVelle captured the independent spirit of the American frontier woman, the quintessential protective mother, and the guilt-ridden daughter. Throw in a beautiful cast of side characters and a perfect reveal, and this was wrapped up in a lovely bow. It's odd to call a monster horror "lovely," but for anyone that's ever felt the need for release of guilt or pent up rage, this is a wonderful proxy.

**Thank you NetGalley and One World for the eARC**

This was my first time reading from Victor LaValle and I cannot wait to read more of his works! This was a stunning novel, beautiful writing, and incredible story!

In the 19th and early 20th century, the Western United States was vast land, nearly uninhabited by people.(excluding, of course, the Indigenous communities whose ancestors had lived on the land for millennia, or the Indigenous people who had been driven there by the initial influx of white colonizers on the East coast. But I digress.) In order to bolster the population, homesteading and claim staking were available to many - if you were willing to work the land, for a small fee a parcel could be purchased and it would be yours, free and clear, after a certain amount of time.
This is the landscape in which Lone Women takes place. Adelaide Henry's parents are dead. After burning her house in the very opening pages - leaving readers, or at least myself, with some VERY intense questions - she packs up a single steamer trunk and heads to promised land in Montana.

This is a story populated by women. Lone women, specifically, unencumbered by husbands or brothers, out to find a place for themselves in the inhospitable Montana prairies. LaValle very deftly writes a series of diverse, intriguing women, almost all of them sympathetic, despite the burdens they bear of past misdeeds. This is genuinely one of my favorite examples of a man writing so many female characters.

One element that drew me out of the story was the casual use of more modern phrases in the narrative writing. Not being in first-person, his use of "fucked up/fucking up" or "slapped the shit out of" didn't seem the most period accurate. While I know swearing is absolutely period accurate, I'm not sure I'm convinced by the way the phrases were presented. I could be very wrong, of course, but at the time they definitely weren't keeping me engaged in the story.

Rep includes: Black female MC, a Black and Chinese lesbian couple, and a transgender boy

I got an ARC of this book.

DNF at 21%

I don't think a single thing happened in the entire time I was reading. This book gets so much praise, but I don't get it. It wasn't the worst book I had read, it was just boring.