YA Weekend: Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto
Mogsy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (February 2, 2016)
Length: 384 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
It’s a real shame this book and I didn’t hit it off, because I feel it had the potential to be something much greater. I doubt I can pinpoint any one reason why it didn’t work for me either, because in actuality it was a series of smaller issues that compounded together to give me a feeling of “offness”.
When details about Revenge and the Wild first came out, it was billed as a Young Adult fantasy western taking place in a lawless world of “dark magic and saloon brawls, monsters and six-shooters.” The protagonist is Westie, a seventeen-year-old who lost her arm to cannibals as a child while she and her family were on the wagon trail to California. The lone survivor, Westie was rescued by a tribe of Wintu and taken to Rogue City where she was subsequently adopted by Nigel Butler, the eccentric local inventor. The cannibals responsible were never captured or brought to justice.
Armed with a new—well, arm made of metal, Westie has taken it upon herself to hunt the family of cannibals who killed hers, and she’s not going to rest until vengeance is served. Then one day, at long last, Westie believes she has found her targets—except there’s one huge problem. The cannibal family are the Fairfields, wealthy friends of the mayor, and they’re all in Rogue City now looking to make a deal with Nigel, who desperately need the funds to finance his newest invention: a machine with the potential to improve the lives of magical creatures everywhere.
With a buzz term like “fantasy western” (which happens to be a growing sub-genre I’m crazy about), I should have been all over this book. Unfortunately though, the “westerness” ends up getting lost in all the noise. I’m a big proponent of the “less is more” principle, and I have been perfectly happy in the past with fantasy western settings that have just a touch of magic. In contrast, Revenge and the Wild was the prime example of having too much of a good thing. Magic, werewolves, vampires, zombies, elves, dwarves, trolls, leprechauns—it felt like the author threw in everything but the kitchen sink. And then there was the steampunk. In a world already over-encumbered with all manner of paranormal creatures, throwing in more things like airships, robot limbs, and mechanical gadgetry felt like overkill. Greedy. Attempting to cram so much into one book results in not being able to develop any one aspect, so in the end they feel tacked on.
Then there’s Westie, who is just one hot mess. This girl is a walking disaster who can’t seem to do anything right, breaking promises, telling brazen lies, going off on half-baked plans, and making the same impulsive mistakes again and again. Poor Nigel. I’m amazed he hasn’t dropped dead from anxiety caused by Westie-related stress. It would be comical if this were aimed at younger readers—which I originally thought, given the overly simplistic prose, but the strong language, violence and sexual undertones ended up dispelling that theory.
To be fair, this book had some strong points. Westie’s flashback and run-ins with the cannibal family were creepy as hell—like I’m talking Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Children of the Corn creepy. I also really liked Bena and her Wintu tribe, and I can’t help but feel the story might have been stronger if more attention had been given to the Native Americans rather than the paranormal creatures. Lastly, there were a few great twists at the end, including one that I never would have seen coming IN A MILLION YEARS.
All told, Revenge and the Wild was a fun but rather shallow and disorganized story on account of it trying to do too many things at once. It is okay for a debut novel and great for a light read, but overall I feel it needs more streamlining and polish. If you’re looking for a book with teen appeal that also has a fantasy setting with a stronger western vibe, you might want to also take a look at Lila Bowen/Delilah S. Dawson’s Wake of Vultures. It also has magic, Native American mythology, and paranormal creatures, but I feel it better integrates those elements.
The BiblioSanctum 
Bummer, sounds I this isn’t one I should hunt for.
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I had really hoped for more 😦
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Well, I am going to stay clear from this book, it sounds pretty messy…
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A shame about that, really. It had a lot of great ideas, but sometimes you just gotta let some things go for the sake of the whole.
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Less is more sounds like it would have been good here, for sure
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I definitely felt that way. I read this for the fantasy western aspect, but sadly the western-ness ended up being edged out by everything else.
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Hmm, sounds like an interesting set of ideas, but just… too much?!
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I think so. The author had a lot of great ideas but unfortunately not enough pages to really explore them all.
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Sounds like a hot mess! I came across this on Goodreads yesterday and thought to myself “well that sure sounds fun…” Nice cover though!
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It does sound fun, to be fair. I was enchanted by the description. Sadly, the execution wasn’t as organized as it could have been.
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I saw a couple of reviews about this one but I’m sorry that despite the potential it wasn’t a bit more than that…
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I’d seen some of the mixed ratings even before I started reading, but decided to give it a go with fresh eyes. Only afterwards I went back to read those reviews and saw that many others had the same issues with it that I did, so I guess others also saw the unrealized potential.
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I was really looking forward to this one. I think I will wait until my library gets it, instead of buying it.
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Definitely it’s still worth giving it a try if you think you might be interested. You never know, it might work for you! Library is a good alternative.
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Awww, I had high hopes for this one. I’m wanting to get into fantasy westerns and this one sounded interesting. Sorry to hear it didn’t live up to it’s full potential.
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I love fantasy western, and I’ll still give every one I find a try. But next time I’ll know to keep my expectations in check 🙂
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What a shamble, the premise sounded so awesome as well – plus THAT COVER *sobs* I have heard similar things about this one though, so I think I’ll give my copy a wide berth for now. I haven’t been too impressed with a lot of the 2016 YA releases this year, so I’ll take a break from reading them for a bit XD
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The cover really is beautiful. And such a cool title. Anyway, I should take a page from your book and grab a little break as well, seeing as the last two YA novels I read have both been 2.5s. I definitely do not want to get burned out on YA!
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Man, the reviews for this one have been all over the place but I’m starting to see an underlying tone of disappointment from trusted bloggers so as much as this one sounded promising at first, I doubt I’ll pick it up now. Admittedly, I am curious about those epic twists you speak of, but there are too many good books to read to consider this one in the near future anyway. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Mogsy and I hope your next read was much better 🙂
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Yeah, I went into this relatively blind, avoiding reviews but noting the mixed ratings. Now I see that a lot of others had the same issues I had, so I feel a bit better. I really wanted to love this though, after all fantasy westerns are so rare. But oh well, you’re right, hopefully I have better luck next time 🙂
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Ugh too bad! I have this to review and I’m not as excited now. Sounds like way too many “things” to keep it focused. Although I am intrigued by the mechanical arm and cannibals!
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I’d be very curious about what you think if you read this!
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