It's funny, the book I read before this featured multiple character perspectives and I didn't like it very much at all - and here it really worked, I loved it.

I love that the connection between "past" characters and their "present" counterparts is established almost immediately, and love even more that we are then to find the connections between everyone involved. Some connections are obvious and others are not fully explained until literally the final pages. This kept me gripped, even through moments that felt a bit dull - though this is just a personal thing. I would much rather read stories taking place in the present era than in the 1850s, so naturally I found those portions overall less interesting or captivating.

I loved these characters. I rooted for them. I wanted every single one to succeed, but I appreciate that Evison did not give all of them a happy ending because, as we know, life does not work that way. The American Dream does not work that way.

Loses half a star only because I do feel it dragged at some moments, and 9 times out of 10 I'm going to be disappointed by open endings. I admire that with certain characters, we are left to decide for ourselves how their stories end - do we choose to believe the positive, and assume a happy ending? Do we choose to be more realistic, even negative or nihilistic? I'm not sure if that was Evison's intention, but if so, well done.