Erin Bowman

Ten years after the events of Vengeance Road, Reece Murphy, who has been forced to join the Rose Riders gang, must work with aspiring journalist Charlotte Vaughn to get free.

Retribution Rails

Jillian Clare

~A big thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eGalley~

4.5/5

As soon as I started this, I was hooked. Some of that has to do with the setting: Set 10 years after the events of Vengeance Road, this installation allows us to explore more of this Wild West that we were initially introduced to in Vengeance Road, but one that has expanded and modernized throughout the decade. I thought this book was a breath of fresh air for multiple reasons, the setting being one of them. I’ve personally not found a lot of YA set in the good ol’ Wild West, so I was excited to see where Erin would take this series next.

I wanted to avoid playing the comparison game, but I have to be honest; I enjoyed Retribution Rails a lot more so than Vengeance Road. It has a lot of the fun elements that made Vengeance Road strong: The pacing, the wild Wild West setting, and of course, the Western tropes. But what really defined this book for me were the characters. Charlotte is witty and ambitious, fighting to be taken seriously and make her break into the world of investigative journalism like her role model, Nellie Bly (can I just take a second to say how much I love this?). Reece is a Rose Rider who wants nothing more than to be truly free, and is determined to change his future. They’re both likeable, their feelings relatable, and are working through their own problems and are ready to put up a fight for what they want. Following their stories and seeing their frenemy relationship fall into place was so much fun, and I liked that there was more of a focus on each of their own journeys of personal growth throughout the novel.
 
There were some throwbacks to the events of Vengeance Road that I really enjoyed, mainly because I thought it was neat to see how the aftermath was handled and how the events were seen by the rest of the world. I felt like Erin did a good job of handling the transition between the two books; she was able to keep in touch with elements from Vengeance Road while letting these new characters have their own narrative.

Overall, I was really pleased with this novel. It was just a lot of fun, packed with the tropes you love to see in a western, and with characters you can't help but root for! 

TL;DR All in all this was a fun, action-packed companion novel and strong follow-up to Vengeance Road. It's got all the fun tropes you love in a Western, plus Erin’s take on the transcontinental rail road (which makes for some awesome action scenes!). Along with historical Wild West setting, I instantly liked Charlotte and Reece, and loved watching them grow through fighting for their freedom and futures. If you liked Vengeance Road (or, you know, even if you didn't), I'd recommend giving this one a try!

Retribution Rails

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