[Book Review] Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

James Patterson presents a bold new heroine—a cross between Katniss Everdeen and Annie Oakley: Serendipity Jones, the fastest sharpshooter in tomorrow's West.

Seventeen-year-old Serendipity "Pity" Jones inherited two things from her mother: a pair of six shooters and perfect aim. She's been offered a life of fame and fortune in Cessation, a glittering city where lawlessness is a way of life. But the price she pays for her freedom may be too great....

In this extraordinary debut from Lyndsay Ely, the West is once again wild after a Second Civil War fractures the U.S. into a broken, dangerous land. Pity's struggle against the dark and twisted underbelly of a corrupt city will haunt you long after the final bullet is shot.

4 STARS 

Whoa! I am so happy with this book and I am so happy I decided to read it!! I was a bit unsure when I heard about this book because I am not a huge wild west kind of person. Most westerns or anything set in that kind of genre never really interested me. But I heard great things and I am a sucker for a beautiful cover. So I caved and requested it from my library. Now it's on my Amazon wish list and I can't wait to buy it for my collection one day. 

The characters were great. I'd be lying if I didn't mention that the description of the main character Serendipity "Pity" Jones didn't immediately pull me into wanting to read this book. Katniss mixed with Annie Oakley!? I was so pumped. I think the description kind of worked really well for her character. I enjoyed her wit and fire. She was bold and strong but she also had flaws and things to work through. I felt like Pity was a great main character and I was rooting for her the whole way. The secondary cast of characters were also a lot of fun. I enjoyed Pity's friendship with Luster, Garland, Duchess, and Max. I would have enjoyed getting to know them more, even Max Pity's love interest. I feel like we only scratched the surface of their characters, and I really enjoyed what we got so far. 

The writing is really well done. The dialogue, like always with me, is my favorite part of the writing. The conversations and connections the characters have with each other made me become even more attached to them. The way the community/carnival brings Pity under their wing and make her feel safe was incredibly heartwarming. My only problem with the book, besides not getting enough of the secondary characters, was that I wanted a bit more world building. The world had so much potential and I don't think we as readers get enough of it. When I looked up to see if there were any plans for sequels I didn't find anything, so if there are going to be sequels I hope we get more of both the characters and the world. It just felt so unsatisfying at the end for it to be a stand alone novel. Also, for a book titled Gunslinger Girl, I expected Pity to be a bit better at shooting. I didn't expect her to be this pro shooter (granted, maybe I should have, the synopsis says she has "perfect aim" which isn't true), especially since she literally just got her guns after not seeing them for a while, but it felt odd that she didn't at least aim her gun during that scene in the beginning and how we don't see her shoot as much as I'd like. If there is a sequel (and I really hope there will be) I hope we see her being able to live up to the title of this book.

Overall, I highly recommend Gunslinger Girl. I think it is such a fun action packed story that had me hooked from beginning to the end. I read it in one sitting basically (granted, I didn't have much of a choice, since it was due the next day at the library, but it was easy to do) and I never felt bored. The action is pretty frequent and I think there's a good balance of action with character development. I definitely think you should pick this book up if you're in the mood for a action packed story with a great cast of characters and really unique plot. 

Thanks for reading!!