Review: Like a River Glorious (The Gold Seer Trilogy #2) by Rae Carson
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Series: The Gold Seer Trilogy #2
Author: Rae Carson
Published September 27th 2016 by Greenwillow Books
Goodreads Synopsis
He will never stop hunting me down. I have to end him, and soon.
Lee Westfall survived the dangerous journey to California. She found a new family in the other outcasts of their wagon train, and Jefferson, her best friend, is beginning to woo her shamelessly. Now they have a real home—one rich in gold, thanks to Lee’s magical ability to sense the precious metal in the world around her.
But Lee’s Uncle Hiram has survived his own journey west. He’s already murdered her parents, and he will do anything to have Lee and her talents under his control. No one is safe. When he kidnaps her, she sees firsthand the depths of his depravity.
Lee’s magic is changing, though. It is growing. The gold no longer simply sings to her—it listens. It obeys her call. Will that alone be enough to destroy her uncle?
Goodreads
Review
I read book one in this series way back in 2016, and just fell in love with the world building, and the writing. Coming as a history teacher, and someone who despised both studying, and then teaching, the American West at GCSE, this series made it come to life, and I can now understand why some people really love this era of history.
Following the events of Walk on Earth a Stranger, we come across Leah and the gang after they survived the treacherous journey to California. As Like A River Glorious, starts the new family of travellers are building their home in an area rich in gold - thanks to Lee's witchy abilities. Her and Jefferson have finally come to an understanding, and the wooing has started with aplomb. However, the fear that Lee's evil uncle Hiram is always on the horizon, and when he arrives and kidnaps Lee , everything seems to go wrong. All Lee can do is keep her wits about her, and turn her power into a weapon to defeat Hiram once and for all.
Lee is a fantastic character, who has suffered immensely in her life, but tries not to let that affect her. Fiercely independent, she rebuffs Jefferson's proposals again and again, worrying that both her independence, and her freedom would be at risk if she was to marry. Seeing how other women are treated in this book, especially once Lee is a captive of Hiram. She personally isn't at risk, with her special status as the niece of the mine owner, but the other woman at the mine are, as are most of the miners too. The themes of sexism and racism is rife in this book, particularly among the Chinese immigrants forced to do hard labour and suffer greatly to make Hiram rich.
For the most part, the story takes place at the mine, so we don't see as much of Glory and the town's creation/building. Hiram was a worthy villain in the book, and though some of the twists and turns weren't as much of a surprise as they were intended to be, I did enjoy the characterisation of him. I'm definitely waiting for book 3, and would be more than happy to recommend this book to any fans of the American West, and maybe even to some of my students to get a feel for what life was actually like back then.
Dates Read:
Rating
4 Stars
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