My Rating: 3.5 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel: While I still haven’t read the second and
third books in Rae Carson’s Fire and Thorns series, I decided to check out her
newest book, Walk on Earth a Stranger, because I loved The Girl of Fire and
Thorns. Knowing that Walk on Earth
wouldn’t be a fantasy, however, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But, once again, Carson’s novel had great
characterization and setting.
Leah (aka Lee) was a protagonist I fully supported, and I loved that
her parents didn’t restrict her due to her gender, allowing her to learn to
shoot, ride, and mine gold. When Leah’s parents are murdered by her uncle
because of her ability to sense gold, Leah refuses to stay under her uncle’s guardianship. Instead,
she dresses up as a boy and heads west, without much of a plan other than
hoping to meet up with her best friend (who also left home) along the way and
going to California together to get rich. Normally, I’d consider this to be
foolhardy; but considering Leah’s circumstances, I thought she was pretty
brave.
Where I was hoping for more though was from the plot as it was very
slow-paced and didn’t really seem to involve much other than Leah traveling,
with people getting hurt along the way. Leah’s ability to sense gold, for example, barely
plays a role in the book! The slow pacing, however, does help with the setting
since it allows the reader to really get a feel for how the land must have
looked during the 1800s.
Walk on Earth a Stranger was released by Greenwillow Books in September
2015.
Comments About the Cover: I think the background could be better, but
I love the font’s style and colour.
