Upright Women Wanted

[cornerofmadness]

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another one of suffering from broken expectations. I got it from a Tor giveaway and I didn't really read the blurb because I had heard so much about it. I was like lesbian librarians in the weird west? Yes please. But that isn't what it actually is exactly. It wants to be a cautionary tale ala Atwood but I hate those. I can easily imagine the worst of humanity. I would like to see some joy to aspire to but that is definitely not this story.

For some reason, America has broken apart into horribly misogynistic/homophobic states. Esther is running away from a forced marriage after her authoritarian father managed to get her girlfriend Beatriz hung for possessing 'Unapproved Materials.' Esther has stowed away with the Librarians as she wants to be them, to have their freedom to move around the country.

They are not thrilled to see her but she manages to convince them to take her to Utah where lesbians can live free but the librarians are not really there for books. They're to help sneak strong women, lesbians and one assumes other rebellious people (no men that we see) to safety.

The world building in this long novella/short novel leaves a lot to be desired. We don't need to know what happened per se but why do some have horses and six shooters? Why do others have drones and cars? Why are they talking like it's 1876? What is this generations long war? Just what the hell is happening? Several others have mentioned in their reviews some of the characters (Leda and Bet for example) seem to be a little light in development and I was also bothered that in a matter of a few days/weeks/however long we're traveling, it's not that long, Esther goes from mourning her hanged lover to being all about Cye, a non binary librarian.

It's not a bad story but it honestly felt like a set up for something coming down the pike with Esther and Cye. That said I'm so tired of fantasy stories where women being reduced to broodmares is thing. It's starting to feel like no SFF author thinks women have any other future.



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