I am voluntarily leaving my honest review.

Holy female rage! Sheesh! I couldn't put this book down; it is perfectly paced, with short chapters, though the time jumping was a bit problematic for me. Belle King is every woman's guilty pleasure character. Her storyline was gritty, gut-wrenching, and in a twisted way refreshing.

There is so much I want to say about this book, but I'm afraid I'll give away spoilers. I am not sure how to review this book. I enjoyed it, even though it was slightly challenging for me to read because of the timeline setup.

GET IT!!! READ IT!! ENJOY IT!!

That's the review!

Thank you so much, Netgalley, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Nancy Paulsen Books, and Heather M. Herrman, for the advance readers copy of this smoky western.

Lady or the Tiger is a pleasantly surprising story.

Part mystery and part feminist energy themed, this book packed a punch. I loved the characters and the constant plot twists. I was surprised on so many occasions and loved every minute of it.

A minor distraction for me were the interlude/multiple timelines. I had to re-read a couple of parts because I got confused. I still very much enjoyed the story. The writing is so engaging. I love this style of storytelling. The ending was brilliant and I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nancy Paulsen Books and the author for an advanced digital copy.

From the first page, I was immediately drawn to Belle. I love an anti-hero narrator, and Belle is a captivating storyteller. This book is beautifully written, and I devoured it in less than a day and shed more than just a single tear while reading it. This may be one of my very favorite books that I've read this whole year.

I'm honestly not sure how this is labeled as a YA novel because this would definitely work well as an adult novel.

I loved how dark this was. There's a handful of serious topics in this novel, such as spousal abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, etc. The author really went all in to show how history hasn't been kind to women at all.

This novel did well with balancing being a character study and a plot-based story. You really get to see Alice's transformation into Belle, a selfish and cold-hearted antiheroine. And honestly, I don't blame her for becoming what she is. Talk about a coming-of-age story.

I really wish the back-and-forth time jumps worked for me though. It was really confusing and made it difficult to immerse myself in the story to the point where it was hard to picture the actual time period that this was set in. I think I'd like this a lot better if the timeline was straightforward.

Anyway, despite that, I think others might like this for its really dark themes and its strong evocation of feminine rage in a misogynist world.

Thank you to Nancy Paulsen Books and NetGalley for this arc.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the ARC!

Another unhinged feminist historical fiction from Heather M. Herrman, this time set in the wild west, following a main character who has to navigate all the different facets of herself, from the lady to the tiger.
As with The Corpse Queen, I loved the historical setting and all of the immersive details that Herrman included. I loved the nuance in the main character, how she was vulnerable and loving and passionate while also being ruthless and cold and chaotic. The plot did take a while to get going, and at times I wish we had a more traditional/consolidated timeline, but ultimately I enjoyed this read.

A twisty anti-hero story about a girl who is on trial for the murder of her first victim... her husband who just happens to arrive at said trial alive and ready to tell the story. Belle King turns herself in for murder, but what she never expects is for her first victim, her abusive ex husband who killed her mother, to appear outside her jail cell very much alive. Belle has made a reputation for herself as a seductive woman who kills men but the story begins to unfold between past and present as we discover who Belle truly was and how she became who she is now... and what her true plan is for turning herself in. This was definitely a unique story that unfolds both in the past and present. I wish the ending was a bit clearer because I do want that happy ending for her but the story ends open ended. I enjoyed Belle as the protagonist and everything she went through was brutal. I loved Cal with my entire heart and he was just such a fantastic love interest. I had fun reading this and I do think that other readers who love a female rage story will have fun with this.

Release Date: June 10, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Nancy Paulsen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Wow. Five Stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I thoroughly enjoyed so many things about this story. The lady, the tiger, and so much more! The way the author had the character breaking the 4th wall was one of my very favorite things. I love when this happens in tv and movies, and even more so when in books. I love to feel like lart of the story.

I enjoy a story with duel or multiple timelines, but this was just so well done👏🏻! Each timeline was such a different setting, and the main character Belle had grown and changed so much in that span of time that it was just so easy to follow allong with.

I love when you get 50% through a book and you think "what more could possibly happen?!? Whats left?!". Lots. There was lots left. The twists, the turns, the vibes, the feelings, this book just sucked me in from the very beginning!

My absolute favorite part of this book was the ending. No spoilers, but im positive i'll be thinking about this story and its message for quite some time.

If youre looking for a gritty, twisty story of a strong, fierce anti-hero and how she got that way, look no further! Read this! You will not be dissapointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Heather M. Herrman, and Nancy Paulsen Books for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This ended up being the perfect example of female rage done right. I feel like this is going to be a book that flies under a lot of people's radars, and I'm here to tell you that you'll be missing out BIG time if this isn't on your TBR. This was so refreshing to read and a great anti-hero story.

Belle King is known to the world as The Seamstress. She's a beautiful young woman who sings and performs for people all over the world in her little traveling circus known as The Damned. In reality, she's also nicknamed The Seamstress for the brutal way she murders the men who wronged her: cuts open her victims and steals their hearts and sews them back together. Back before she was known as Belle King, she was just Alice Springer, a girl from Kentucky who lived in a small house with her mother when one fateful day changed the entire course of her life forever. When Belle King turns herself in for murder, she finds her abusive husband there, waiting to bail her out...despite her killing him and making sure he was very much dead. Desperate to never be under his control again, she tries to find a way to make sure she's free of him at last.

I knew right away that I was going to absolutely LOVE this as soon as I read the first chapter. It starts with quite the opener and sets the stage for the rest of the story. I knew I was excited to read this, but I was blown away by what I ended up reading. This was from a genre I don't read a whole ton from anymore—historical fiction—but on top of that, this was a Western historical fiction book. It was my first, and I had no idea what to expect other than outlaws, the desert, the Wild West in the 1800s, all of that usual stuff you see about books that take place in the Wild West. While all of that IS true and very much present in the story, what made the story so enjoyable was Alice herself.

Alice—or Belle—was very much the antihero the synopsis was advertising. She makes it clear from the very first LINE of the book: "You aren't going to like me." Unfortunately for her, I feel like a lot of people, such as myself, by the end of the book, enjoyed her character arc and her story. She was a complete badass who learned to live for herself and no one else. She went from a child to a young woman before our very eyes in the story, even if that happened in unfortunate circumstances. There is a grooming aspect to the storyline with Alice and her abusive husband, and it was so painful to read. My heart broke for her at the things she had to go through at the age of sixteen. However, that pain dissipated the moment she started to find her voice and realizes that she's meant for more. She's destined for bigger. She's destined for better. She's bigger than the circumstances she was put in, and when there's a will, there's a way.

I think there's something so metaphoric about the title itself: Lady or the Tiger. It ties in so much with Alice's life before and after her Belle King persona. In the story, she has a pet tiger when she's part of her crew with The Damned named Omisha that she danced and trained for her shows, and Alice constantly wonders if Omisha would be better off as a free tiger and not trapped in a cage all the time. I think that metaphor fits so perfectly with Alice's character development. In her life as Alice, she was stuck in an abusive relationship she didn't ask to be a part of and living in other people's shadows. She was asked to fit in with high society, sit prim and proper, and perform for people with her talented singing skills. That's the "lady" side of her. The "tiger" side of her is the part of her that wants to be free. It's the part of her that wants to live by her own rules, make her own path, and be truly independent away from all the noise and the people who want to tie her down. I think all of that portrays such a powerful message as she battles between each side of her: does she want to be known as a lady, or unleash her wild side and become the tiger that people fear?

I also enjoyed the murder mystery aspect of the story, although it was kind of less on the murder and more on the mystery considering we already know that Alice killed her victims. As someone who reads a lot of thrillers, I figured I would be able to find out what tricks Alice had up her sleeve and surely, she would have a method to her madness, right? She did have a method to her madness, and it was the perfect combination of unhinged and also perfectly on point for her character. I never would've been able to guess how everything ended, so they got me there!

The only thing I think could've been a little better in the book is the constant time jumps. The chapters are short, and they alternate between Alice's current situation in prison, and then her life up to 1-2 years before the current events in the present timeline. While I liked the flashbacks, I felt like there were too many of them and there were some abrupt time jumps from the present to the past and vice versa that would cut through the story and interrupt the flow of the story that was going on. Another thing of note is the ending. I personally didn't mind it, but I can see how some people would be upset at the idea of an open ending where you don't 100% know how it ends, so it's all left up to interpretation.

PLEASE pick up this book this summer if you're looking for a headstrong, independent female character that stops at nothing—not even the law or even death—to get what she wants in life. I think there's something so powerful about this book, from the quotes I continually wrote down to the metaphors, that I feel is very much needed in today's day and age. I look forward to seeing what the author has in store for the future and reading more from her!

Short and Sweet Review

Lady or the Tiger follows the story of Belle King, who is wanted for murder and just recently turned herself in. Belle is ready to face the consequences but what she isn’t ready for is to see her abusive husband Reginald outside of her jail cell. Belle has done a lot to get away from Reginald even going so far as to kill him or so she thought. Belle would rather die than to be back with Reginald but its the 1800s and she may not even be believed about the crimes she committed.

I’ve never really been into Westerns and going into this book I didn’t remember anything about it, but while I was reading it I found myself pleasantly surprised and enjoying it. The book takes place in 1886 and our main character is a wanted woman and she turns herself in. We follow her while she’s in jail and get chapters that are flashbacks that shows how she even got to this point in life. Belle is ready to face her fate in her mind it’s inevitable. When her husband Reginald shows up it seems like he wants to rescue his wife but he’s a bit nefarious. Belle was a smart character and she had a mouth on her, she did a lot of cunning things and people weren’t expecting it. Seeing Belle and Reginald interact is like a game of cat and mouse and it was interesting to see how everything would play out. There’s more to the story than just Belle and Reginald, there’s also her actual love interest Cal that we get to see in flashbacks, we also see some acquaintances she’s made along the way. There’s some chapters where it’s like Belle is speaking directly to the reader and throughout the whole book you get to decide if she’s the hero or the villain. The ending was great and wasn’t something I was expecting at all.

Overall, this was a great book and there’s a lot of twists and turns involved that’ll keep readers engaged and on their toes. Like I said earlier I don’t usually enjoy the Western genre but Herrman did a great job of exploring social issues that happened than that are still present today. Definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for an antihero paving her way in the Wild West.

You aren’t going to like me.

Lady or the Tiger was about a young girl surviving in the American wild west and trying to come into her own. Told, mostly, all from her point-of-view with numerous back and forth time jumps, readers travel with her from the beginning at fifteen years old forced to kill a man to nineteen years old and about to be hung as the Seamstress, a serial killer. This was tagged as young adult but I'd go more new adult, there's nothing completely explicit with the sex and violence but with a first husband who is a sadist in the bedroom, I often felt the messaging of don't give up being yourself for men was stylistically written more for adult thinking; I'm a big Judy Blume fan and I couldn't help comparing the two. The “supporting women's wrongs” with claiming fierce feminism when our lead Alice/Belle lures men with her physical wiles to murder them, just wasn't groundbreaking or entertaining for me, your mileage may vary.

For a ghost, he looks very much alive.

Alice gets sent to an asylum after she murders a man and her mother is killed. From there she is forced to marry Reginald, a cop, as a means of escape. She becomes useful to him by helping him cheat while gambling and they travel the west and Europe but he's the sadist in the bedroom and when Alice locks eyes with a boy in Texas, they spend a night together and escape Reginald. Alice then becomes Belle and travels the west and Europe with the carnival of The Damned, falling in love with Cal, the Texas boy, and taming a tiger to dance with. One night things unravel and Belle runs while Cal saves her from a dire situation, but eventually at nineteen Belle turns herself in for the Seamstress murders and wants to be hung because she thinks/knows she's done wrong. Her plan gets ruined when Reginald shows up and says she's crazy, citing the asylum stay, and tries to save her.

And though I have shot two men, kissing a boy here in the fading light, without last night’s irresistible spell to carry me away or my shadow to guide me, feels like the bravest thing I have ever done.

Like I said, the timeline is cut and spliced wildly, Alice/Belle starts off ready to be hung, then you'll go from how she escaped Reginald, her murderous time as the Seamstress, time with Cal, how she married Reginald, and the time at the asylum. There's some unreliable narration going on and an ending that takes a page from the short story it's title is inspired by (The Lady or the Tiger). If you can handle non-linear stories, telling you feminism is simply doing what you want, cool real women historical figures shout-outs, a good message (lost in the story for me most the time) of don't change yourself for love or chance at it, and an open-ended ambiguous ending, then this was something different along those lines.

This book was female rage at its best. If you're a fan of the musical Chicago, this story will be right up your alley! The Western element was very well done and the plot had me on the edge of my seat right up until the end!

I was hooked from the beginning!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

This story was an interesting young adult Western that took a couple of twists and turns I was not expecting. The main character was very well developed and the story kept me guessing throughout as to what she was going to do or who was involved and where.

Lady or the Tiger is a convoluted book that starts slowly, but not is it worth sticking with. I can't quite put my finger on what it was that I enjoyed about this book, but I am definitely very glad I read it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy for review

This is a love story.

“It is a glorious thing to please yourself. Girls are not taught how to do it enough. There’s always someone else our love is directed at, someone else we use our talents for. An external presence that we allow to accept or deny our gifts. Our beauty.”

I wanted to read this because it’s a western written from a woman’s POV which I haven’t seen many recently. Now, I’m not usually a YA fan but I did enjoy this book.

I loved the ending, at first I was like what the heck but then I sat with it and agreed with the author and especially for a YA novel it needed to be done. After I was thinking about how this book could have changed my pov at 17-18 with just how Belles character viewed womanhood.

I enjoyed the flashbacks and getting to know Belle/Alice’s story.

I didn’t like how the author broke the 4th wall throughout the book. I don’t like it but that’s just a personal preference.

Belle King is a murderer and now she’s sitting in jail and the last person she wants to see is her husband show up in hopes to get her out. She’s lived many lives, she’s been an Oprah singer, an outlaw, a married woman, a daughter, and asylum patient, she’s danced with tigers and danced with men, but one thing she’s never done is be free.

The book celebrates women’s wrongs and that makes it so very right.

On its surface this is a book about a young girl who escapes an abusive life, falls in love, and kills bad men.

On a deeper level this book is a love letter to woman, to girls really, celebrating our right to be wrong. To exist outside of perfection, to give life to our shadows, and allow our darkness to shine.
To be our whole imperfect selves.

It’s a twisty, dark, page-turner, that expertly weaves between present, past, and further past, to bring together a story that will have you rooting for our anti-hero in no time.

I never thought I’d like a western book, certainly not enough to give it five stars, but this book?! It is something spectacular.

Why is writing a review for a book you really loved so hard? I want to be sure to get it right, to do the book justice, and sometimes that feels insurmountable. I’m likely to reread this one - so you may see an updated review in the future — but for now this is what I’ve got.

There is something to be said about a book that is outside your usual genres becoming one of your favorites. Does this mean I actually love westerns/historical fiction and just haven’t found the right ones before this? Is this purely a reflection on the talent of the writer? Or was this a perfect storm of a talented writer, themes I love, and maybe a little of “haven’t found the right one”? Whatever it is, one thing is certain — this will not be my last from this author, and has opened me to exploring this genre more.

I think what I’m really trying to say is, if you find themes like feminine rage, strong female characters, love, friendship, and self-discovery appealing — READ THIS BOOK. Even if you don’t like historical fiction, even if you’re usually only a fantasy reader — READ THIS BOOK.

Per usual these are a few of the aspects I absolutely loved..
- Feminine rage
- anti-hero FMC
- love story (not a capital R)
- twisty - edge of your seat - turn the pages as fast as you can - kinda read
- symbolism for DAYS
- short chapters!
- the author’s note - is that weird to say? idc I’m saying it anyway.

What’s not to love…
- Have you read my review? I’m obsessed with this book - I loved all the parts of it!

This story starts at an unusual place - with the heroine turning herself in for murder. You'd think it'd start with what she did wrong, or what brought her to that point, but all of that will come later. Belle King, the infamous Seamstress, who takes men's hearts and leaves a diamond in their place, sits nicely and asks Sheriff Hicks to ensure that she hangs. Belle is a dark and mysterious protagonist, who was forced to marry a bad man in order to escape her confinement to a mental institution. She made things right by, well, killing him, so no one is more shocked than she when he appears to stop her from hanging. This is told in a flashback format, where you will get snippets of her time with the Damned, in the mental institution, her crimes and the current day. It's a twisty story, although the pacing is a little slow at times, giving a Western vibe. The ending is a little bit of an enigma, but I quite enjoyed the story. It wasn't what I was expecting, but the best stories never are.

A teenaged girl named Alice Springer kills a brutal man who attacks her mother and ends up committed to an insane asylum. She is "rescued" by a man who forces Alice into an abusive marriage and convinces her she is to blame for her own mother's death.. Eventually, Alice becomes a world-famous entertainer and a ruthless serial killer named Belle King who travels the world and wanders through the Wild West with a troupe of entertainers called The Damned. Along the way, Alice acquires a dancing tiger and leaves a fortune in diamonds sewn into the chests of her victims.

Lady or the Tiger is a hot mess of violence and proto-feminism told in a back-and-forth style that left me dizzy but not in a good way. Alice is the ultimate unreliable narrator and I stopped caring about her less than half-way through the book. The details of this self-described "love story" vary from over-the-top magical realism to the grubbiest and most revolting depictions of evil men and the women they abuse. After awhile I stopped trying to figure out the timeline because it bounced around through various past events and a present that had the narrator lecturing the reader while lying and foreshadowing things that might or might not take place. I don't understand how Alice can be adored and sought after by countless men even though her voice cracks on high notes, she has yellow eyes like a cat, rolls of extra flesh on her hips, and her teeth protrude so far that she can't close her lips over them. She is foul-mouthed and rude and usually smells bad because her crazy husband insists she wear unwashed dresses that he either bought or stole from other women he mistreated. How is anyone supposed to believe that this girl became the toast of Europe?

This book is advertised as being written for ages 12 and up and the lack of overt sexuality might make that seem appropriate but I think that the violence, cruelty, and suggested sadism might be too disturbing for a young reader. All the ranting about women finding their own way doesn't make up for the ugliness of what comes before. Also, Alice's claims that she only murders men who "deserve it" are problematic. If I hadn't felt obligated to finish this book and write a fair review, I would have stopped reading long before the end. That said, the author can be funny (her comparison of a sheriff's unfortunate mustache to a small animal is clever) and sometimes lyrical in descriptions of nature. I wonder if Heather Herrman wasn't trying to write two very different books but ended up cramming them both into less than 400 pages.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for granting me free access to an advance reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is an amazing novel which very well may be my favorite of the year. The writing is superb and the voice of the protagonist is clear and well thought out. The plot is engaging and invites multiple read-throughs in order to really soak up the history and intention the author is conveying. These are the types of stories that stay with you long after you’ve closed the book. A very powerful read that is impossible to put down.

Lady or the Tiger is a captivating novel with a fresh take on the classic wild west tale. The writing is engaging and helps keep the story moving when the plot seems to drag. The hardest thing to follow is how chapters switch between the present and flashbacks. This makes the story progress slower and it can be confusing. Overall, Lady or the Tiger was a great book!