River of Teeth

It's an interesting idea, I guess, but it just didn't work for me.

This is one of those books where a plus-size woman, a bisexual cowboy, and a transperson go on an adventure in the early 1800's. That is to say, this is an alternate history western heist novel that is totally plausible. Especially the part where one character uses “they/them” for their pronouns and encounters absolutely no bigotry about this. The same for the bisexual cowboy; people love that he makes sex with men and women! Yay! Progressive pre-Civil War US!

I think I would have appreciated this more had it used more of the actual history and historical context than it did.

As is, it seemed short, underdeveloped, and cliched. Almost as if the author wanted to write a super butch, bro-y heist novel, but “subvert” the tropes with these alternative characters. But the tropes are not subverted.

All that said, at least there are several very likable characters in this book. And the whole notion of using hippos instead of horses is really fun/ny to imagine.