Vengeance Road

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

Age: Young Adult
Category: Historical; romance
Rating: 4.5 stars

Melissa Thinks: A historical western romance? Definitely not something I thought I would enjoy, but Vengeance Road exceeded my expectations. Kate, the main character, is the embodiment of a strong female character. After her father is brutally murdered by the notorious Rose Riders, she vows to track down and kill every last one of them. Along the way she picks up brothers Will and Jesse who, thanks to her disguise, are under the impression she is a boy (think Mulan). This makes it all the more difficult when she finds herself starting to notice the older boy, Jesse, in a "more than traveling companions" kind of way.

Like I said, Kate is an amazing character. Not only is she a badass, gun-slinging, independent, cowgirl-type character, but she also has a sweetness to her that adds to her lovableness. Her need for revenge gets her into some pretty nasty situations and she's willing to kill and even give her life in order to kill whoever murdered her father. I gobbled up this novel in one sitting because I loved Kate's character so much! And it wasn't just her that I loved. The secondary characters complimented Kate well: Will and Jesse--even Liluye, who I would've liked to see more of, made the novel stronger.

I don't think Vengeance Road is completely historically accurate, but it was enough so that I wasn't painfully aware of inconsistencies. My only complaint was the last 1/4 of the book was a little rushed to me. A few things wrapped up in convenient ways that left me feeling unsettled. Besides that, I was very satisfied with this book and I'm finding myself looking forward to reading more western YA books!