Review: Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

Hey all, Dani here.

Merry Christmas everyone!! Okay, so there’s a lot of excitement going on in real life and I’m sure I’ll talk about it soon enough, probably when I start rolling out 2018 plans here on the blog, but I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday with friends and family, and that you get lots of fantastic books, bookish items, and whatever other gifts you’re hoping for.

Today I’m bringing you a review for a book that I picked up at Book Expo that will be coming out very soon. So thank you to the publisher for being kind enough to hand out so many lovely ARCs of Gunslinger Girl at Book Expo and Book Con so people can read it early.

Let’s get started.

Summary

James Patterson presents a bold new heroine–a cross between Katniss Everdeen and Annie Oakley: Serendipity Jones, the fastest sharpshooter in tomorrow’s West. 

Seventeen-year-old Serendipity “Pity” Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She’s been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great….
In this extraordinary debut from Lyndsay Ely, the West is once again wild after a Second Civil War fractures the U.S. into a broken, dangerous land. Pity’s struggle against the dark and twisted underbelly of a corrupt city will haunt you long after the final bullet is shot.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

I guess I’ve sort of been in a western story mood lately. I mean, I’ve already read books like Walk on Earth a Stranger and Vengeance Road, so this one sounded pretty appealing as well. What makes it stand out though is that those two are more historical fiction or historical with a dash of magic involved as well. Gunslinger Girl, on the other hand, is set in a future of sorts, taking place after a Second Civil War has happened and the Confederacy of North America now exists.

So the world has a technological factor that isn’t present in historical western settings. Of course there’s still that same lawlessness and gunslinger ways you’d expect with a western, which I greatly enjoyed.

Main protagonist Serendipity “Pity” Jones is a character I so enjoyed following around. She knew her situation wasn’t the greatest and she made plans to get out if it ever came to it. Obviously the story starts with something happening that necessitates a quick escape. Then an attack by some outlaw scavengers leaves Pity in a pretty rough spot, but she ends up getting picked up by a group of people and she ends up deciding to accompany them to Cessation.

Now, based on the descriptions of Cessation and such, it seems pretty much like Las Vegas, honestly, but this is the city where Pity has to start trying to survive. Thankfully her mother taught her to shoot and she has a set of nice pistols. I loved how much skill and confidence Pity had, while at the same time being a little unsure about using her gunslinger skills as a performer.

This book totally had an Annie Oakley feel to it with the character of Pity and her job as a performer. I really thought that was a cool aspect. And the other members of the performer troupe she was in were all pretty interesting too.

I mean, I don’t want to say too much more about the story or the plot, because what I’ve mentioned so far is either in the summary or is in the first few chapters of the book, but I’m just going to say that this was a pretty fun read and I’m looking forward to seeing what Lyndsay Ely comes out with next. This book also makes me more excited to finally read Stalking Jack the Ripper because these are both books published by James Patterson’s imprint, which is pretty cool.

Where to Buy

You can pre-order Gunslinger Girl from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local indie bookstore. This book will be released January 2nd.