Book Review: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Cover courtesy of Goodreads

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
What's better than cool powers, the gold rush, and historical fantasy?!

Goodreads Synopsis:
Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift.

My Review: This is a book I meant to read for a while. I mean, being able to sense gold during the Gold Rush?! Lee must have an awesome time...right?

Well, not exactly. She faces lots of problems along the way...maybe a little too many? I feel like the author tried to fit in too much, causing the story to get a little boring in the middle. It got more interesting at the end as the story wrapped up, at least, but I didn't realize that the book was only about the journey there. They never do any actual gold rushing in this story (it's probably a focus of the next book).

The characters were interesting and very unique. They seemed like real people you'd find travelling to California together. I like the development some go through, especially one of the adult mothers. She becomes more trusting, and really changes her negative attitude.

One last thing I will say about the plot is that running away from Uncle Hiram is a big part of the story, but *spoiler* he doesn't really make an appearance until the end. This didn't make much sense to me. If you're going to spend the whole book bracing for someone to find you, at least don't make that scene over in a few pages *end of spoiler*.

Overall, the plot and characters were interesting, so I give this book 3.5 stars. I do want to see what happens with Lee next!