Once it is glossed over as Ada realizes “oh I guess I grew up in a racist town.” In the second, she tries to white savior her friend in front of some eugenicists and her friend rightly chews her out for it.

Maybe two times in the book, race is acknowledged. It comes to the brink of asking a question, but shies away before anything important can be asked.Īnd on the topic of feminism, there’s only the slightest hint at any kind of intersectionality. It’s not that they have to address it, but it feels like a wasted opportunity in a book that’s hailed as feminist. The Kid is the only character who approaches any questions of gender, but the author seemed more concerned with the Kid’s B plot about their mental state to really dig in. People are defined in terms of whether they can reproduce, but none of the characters struggle with the question of their gender, even though many find they can’t reproduce. Perhaps the worst part of this book for me is how it’s been heralded as “feminist” while failing to make any bold claims on gender or sexuality. The rest of the gang Ada joins is marginally better because they’re at least more excited about being in an outlaw gang, but they’re hardly fleshed out. She’s a very inactive character, and when she does actively make choices, there is little to no expressed emotion and no explanation. Part of the reason this doesn’t work for me is because Ada is boring. There are too many “my ma once said” and “when I was a little girl” stories for my liking. My issues arose early, particularly with the narrative voice: while it has a few fun moments (“in the year of our lord 1984, I became an outlaw” works perfectly in context), those moments are overshadowed by monotonous exposition. This book is like an under seasoned meal: it’s fine, it’s edible, it has all the right ingredients.

Outlawed by anna north review