Sarah Gailey

Upright Women Wanted

In Upright Women Wanted, award-winning author Sarah Gailey reinvents the pulp Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity. “That girl’s got more wrong notions than a barn owl’s got mean looks.” Esther is a stowaway. She’s hidden herself away in the Librarian’s book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her—a marriage to the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda. The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing. Praise for Upright Women Wanted "A good old-fashioned horse opera for the 22nd century. Gunslinger librarians of the apocalypse are on a mission to spread public health, decency, and the revolution."—Charles Stross "A dazzling neo-western adventure. . . . Gailey’s gorgeous writing and authentic characters make this slim volume a pure delight."—Publishers Weekly, starred review At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Jasper

Keep fighting. It will be hard, and it will be awful, and it will be worth it. Don’t give up, even when it feels like dying. Don’t give up.

When there's people around that we don't trust, we let them think we're the kinds of people who are allowed to exist.

We have to be better. We can't do this anymore. The last time they'd had that conversation, a week before Beatriz died, Esther had said, 'I don't feel that way about you anymore.' A desperate attempt to rescue them both. Saying it had felt like dying. Although, not as much like dying as the fate she feared would come for them. It was the worst lie she'd ever told. And it hadn't even been enough to save Beatriz.

Lindy

Oh no, everything that annoys me in fanfiction crammed into a Hugo-nominated novella.

who do I have to pay and how much to get this as a movie

rumbledethumps

Really liked this. Using Western tropes to explore new ideas in the best sort of way.

Taut story that could be its own thing, or could spin out into a series set in the same world. Either way, I'll be looking for more of Gailey's books.

I’m in love with this little novella and all the characters who live inside of it. Everyone needs to read this book PLEASE! The sapphic wild western trope is a new favorite for me. Such a fantastic read, can’t wait to pick up more from Sarah Gailey.

Angie Van Sprang

Shona Tiger

Felt like it had promise, but the story didn't really go anywhere, and I couldn't engage with the characters. A lot of backstory was hinted at and never really explained. Also no real attempt to build a world (--there's a war? Why? What are Librarians, really? You only find out later. Etc.) The audience enters the story at a point when some things have already happened, and it's difficult to catch up. Don't care enough about the characters to read a sequel, if there will be one. Very nearly dnf after a chapter or two. 

May be for others, but not for me.

Janice Hopper

I'm not really the target audience for this book. It takes place in a sort of alternate America/alternate west (I don't like westerns); it's mostly a romance (don't normally read romance); it doesn't have much plot (I like plots).

But if you're looking for an ok western/lesbian romance/gender non-conforming story with a happy ending, this is the book for you. It was a quick afternoon's listen. 2.5 stars rounded to 3, largely because it's not my thing, and some of the writing made me wince a little.

Didi Chanoch

This is very much a book for right now. A bright book about a dark world, a book about love and friendship and sweet romance. 

This is very much a novella. Don't expect a novel type plot here. This is a sliver of the world, of the lives of these character at a pivotal moment for them during a larger, longer conflict. 

It figures that when Sarah Gailey writes a dystopia, it'll be bright and joyful - while, yes, again, in a dark and unpleasant land. Their book about a magic school made me cry, while their book about a dark future made me smile. They zig when common sense would make them zag. And that's why they're awesome.

Isabela H 

I LOVED this book
Honestly, I should probably give this book a 4 or a 4.5 rating because there were some parts that were just not the best quality but I STILL LOVED THIS BOOK. Honestly, it had everything that I needed to hear, even things that I didn't want to hear but still really appreciated, and it was the perfect balance of simplicity with high-pace action. 
This book is such a quick and fun read that I recommend it to literally anyone because there's so much that you can get from the book, even if you just gain a fun appreciation for badass librarians.

Connor 

4.5! This was excellent. I think Lizz put it best, when I read her review just now--it's definitely queer librarian western, and it was awesome, true--but at its heart, this is a story about identity and community, and learning how one feeds into the other and vice versa, and there's something very necessary in that.

Sarahi

This was so freaking good!!! Sapphic and NB rep!!! A western??? I dont have much to say, it was that good

Michelle García

Ok, I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I actually did. Super short but super packed with great characters and a entertaining plot. I see a lot of people saying that it lacked world-building, but I think you can get infer enough info for context. I would love for it to be longer, but I think part of its charm is its length. Amazing!!

elif sinem

So goddamn important, much better written than Magic for Liars, and the cast of characters is to die for. But my problem is that it's... too short. If this was longer then the plot would have had time to breathe and really unfold the way it needed to.

Helene Utterback

A queer, diverse Western. This was so fun to read!

Melissa Minshull

There were parts of this book I loved (like how queer it was and the character development) and I knew it was short going in but I was left feeling lacking. I just wanted more. More information on the war they keep mentioning, on the insurecrionists, on the librarians as an organisation, on Utah. Just more worldbuilding and background basically. It just made the story fall a bit flat for me. Still had some fun with it though, like I wanted to keep going with it. There wasn't a point where I was thinking "I'm bored I might stop" I just wanted more from it. 

Maxie Froelicher

I've never felt more seen than when there's a nonbinary character in a book. The emotions in this book were raw and tare directly at you despite how short it is. The progression of the characters doesn't feel rushed, at all, even though I would LOVE to spend more time in this world, learning more about the events that got the States the way they were, learn more about the Librarians, learn more about all of it, and especially what happens next.

Sahi K

I think it was a few months ago that I first saw the cover for this book, which while it looked interesting with an equally intriguing title - it was the blurb talking about “queer librarian spies on horseback in future American Southwest” that sealed the deal that I had to read this one. I never expected to get the ARC but I did request on a whim, so imagine my surprise when I got approved for it. And I just had the urge to read it immediately and it was so much fun. 

It’s kinda difficult to describe much about the book without giving a lot away because it’s less than 200 pages. It has a very Wild West feel to it, with lots of traveling on horseback in the deserts of Arizona but I actually haven’t read any westerns, so I mostly got the vibe based on whatever movies I’ve watched. The world building is also kept very vague and we mostly get to know nothing about why this America seems to be divided, just that there seems to be a lot of dissemination of propaganda and conservatism on one side. Nevertheless, the plot is extremely fast paced and it was an adventure ride that didn’t let up for even a moment. It was hella fun with a lot of banter and cheeky dialogue, a couple of great action sequences and lots of female bonding. 

The characters are definitely the X factor in this book. Esther is a little naive, who wants to become a librarian because she thinks she doesn’t deserve a good life as she is queer and just wants to do some good things in life before gets her bad ending. But she is extremely resourceful and observant and brave, and it was nice to see her discover through the course of the story that there are others like her and she is allowed to find happiness and purpose. Bet and Leda are a badass power couple and though we get few interactions with them, they were awesome. Cle is a great companion and right from the beginning, watching their developing dynamic with Esther was delightful and I thought the author captured the attraction between them very well. Amity was a total mystery for the most part but she also gave Esther some much needed advice, so I really couldn’t fault her slightly devious machinations. 

To conclude, all I want to say is I had fun reading this book. If you like reading adventurous westerns and some lovely queer representation, then this charming little novella is perfect for you. It’ll delight you and make you think and also fill you with hope, just like it’s very hopeful ending (or beginning), full of promise of more adventures to come.

Toni Turner

I already know this is one I'm going to want to re-read in the future. I just get so excited when an author manages to make me care about characters in such a short amount of time.

Jennifer Dieter

I feel like there was a lot of potential in this story, but it felt like it only touched the surface when it came to character development.

Nora Reisenberger

✨Excellent! 👏🏻
Somehow I feel smarter, empowered, feministic and rebellious all at the same time after having read this novella.

To summon it up *real* short I would throw around the motto “BE GAY, DO CRIME!” and I would say this sentiment does appear and play a role in it.

Imagine the U.S. sometime in the not-too-distant future. Modern life as we know it is no more and civilization is left back in ye ol’ Western times.

It doesn’t get explored per se what exactly did to the events of the story but save to say not everything is ✨better✨ again, so when protagonist faces her own forbidden feelings and her friend has to suffer for it, it doesn’t sit well.

Thus she embarks on a journey in an effort to join The Librarians, a group of Upright Women ™️ who better the society bey traveling the wastelands to cities, villages and small outposts to distribute Approved literature and entertainment to educate the populous in what is Right and Wrong.

(Spoiler via “rhetorical” question) 
However if Esther truly finds what she is looking for or if fate might throw a curve ball …. (👀 is this question too-SPOILER-y?! maybe 😅🤷🏻‍♀️) you’ll have to read to find out for yourself.

Let’s conclude by saying that I found this narrative to be inspiring and thought provoking. It includes excellent character-relationships and representation of LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍🌈 story-lines. I loved it. I’m probably gonna read it again soon …. before the month is over. After all it’s just such a small, thin, quick-to-get-through book. 🤓 👏🏻

Charlotte Rayfield

Made me be happy to exist even in uncertainty, even when I don’t know what I want or what I’m doing.

Ruby Huber

Here's the thing: this STORY is phenomenal. But to tell the story this needed to be a 400 page book not a 200 page book!!! There was no space for any plot points to BREATHE we were constantly jumping from one to the next, which also left absolutely no room for actual development of character or relationship..... huge let down because as I said, phenomenal story!!! Lesbian Librarian Vigilantes in the Wild West! Non-binary love interest, not in a weird way!! Like come ON!!!!!!!!!!

Jayarna La Bozzetta

I wanted more librarians :(

I'm just getting a little tired of things feeling like they lack a sense of purpose. this was good but not great in that aspect. It feels like some scenes aren't working as hard as they could. I want to feel like this story is exciting, interesting, that things are moving forward and developing in all areas. I want to see authors do more with their words, worlds, their dialogue, their characters and their concepts. I'm finding myself increasingly wanting this with my books - and this certainly wasn't a bad book, but I felt it was confused in some parts and lost its way. I'm also just not sure why Gailey chose this setting and set-up to tell this story - it feels a little disjointed.

Tierra Wilson

I felt very much like Esther during at different points in my life. Like my badness, my feelings were wrong and would hurt the people I cared about. It was nice to read a queer story that had an optimistic open ending. I would love to see more stories told in this world.

It was alright for a novella. I think if you give it a lot of leeway for just forgetting plot points, ditching characterization, and moving things at a pace that neither makes sense nor really flow in order to keep the story short, it is fine. But I personally have this issue with most novellas and short stories so it is likely just a "me" problem. 


My biggest issue is that it tried to build a society in the background and then never really showed it to us. Esther is supposed to be important because of her dad but that never really matures. Esther also gets kind of shafted in her development midway through, where an entire section of her life that seems laid out to scar her just...disappears? I don't know why you'd lay out how dangerous a society is and then show the same character be basically fine in it. I needed to see more of it with different characters I guess. The stakes just didn't seem very high.

Upright Women Wanted

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