Review of "Across the Wilderness" - timetravel romance to the Indians of the 1800dreds

Sometimes you prefer some not too complicated reading material so that is why I picked this novel from my NetGalley-review pile. The concept is interesting: the moment a woman falls asleep in her newly bought vintage bed she is transported through time and distance to the mid-1800dreds and the Lakota territories. The moment she falls asleep there she will be home again in modern times.

What to do if you know the men and women around you will suffer greatly in a few years time because you know what happened in history? Would you be completely focussed on the possibility to save them but maybe alter your own time? What happens in Outlander for instance.

It might be a bit much to overanalyse a book that is meant for light reading. But  there are some things I would like to discuss with you:

1) When you write a book situated in American history you might reflect for a moment your global readers from say Japan, Germany or Chile will not immediately have a moment of recognition when you mention Red Cloud, Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse. They might have heard a name but not know in detail. A bit more explanation would help. Also why the Pawnee where so hated.

2) Some things that happen sound off. You will know if someone penetrates you even when you are drunk When the Indian brave is taught a condom is like a  shield between an man and a woman preventing babies he is not that backwards he would not notice when that shield is ripped. The presence of the white man is never explained. Why leave when it is not necessary yet even in her reasoning? What I mean is there are some moments that has me frowning.

3) I really do not like it when a writer splits a book in two volumes. An open ending can be on purpose to the reader will have to fill things in herself or himself but this is just a cut in the story that will continue in another book. Bad marketing trick. There is a hint the heroine does things to try to save her friends but the story suddenly ends.

4) The Indians are really depicted as the noble savages and I wondered if that was a correct interpretation of history. I imagine when I would be transported to the 19th century I would find some habits nasty. I scrolled through the reviews on Amazon and their one reviewer complained about the Christian sauce that was in the story. That they real Lakota were quite different and no saints believing in one God.

Although the book is a romance book and they do sleep together it is a book very suitable for people under 18 as never is it that explicit mentioned in detail. The type of story itself is never becoming very complicated so it might attract more the young adult readers then the people who like a more complicated story.







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