Upright Women Wanted is a fun, queer, sci-fi western novella by Sarah Gailey. Fun, queer, and western is one of my favorite combinations for anything ever, so I knew going into it that I'd at least enjoy myself. And I did! Unfortunately, for all that the story lines up in its sights, it misses out on some of its own opportunities to become more than the sum of its genres,

The Good

Upright Women Wanted follows Esther, a young queer woman whose lesbian lover was hanged before her eyes. Esther escapes her hometown by stowing away in a Librarian wagon, searching for a new life that doesn't involve marrying the man who killed her best friend. While travelling with the Librarians, Esther faces death and adventure as well as love as she comes to accept her own queer identity, discovers a new family and better understands the truth of the world beyond her hometown.

The plot is almost entirely character-driven which helps Gailey tackle her themes of gender and rebellion in an efficient manner while also fleshing out and bringing to life a cast of outlaw heroines. Watching the Librarians soften a bit and open up to Esther was very nice, and I liked watching the story's romance bud and grow in a tender cowboy way (gender neutral cowboys, that is). Speaking of cowboys, there's a lot of western slang that gives the prose and dialogue a playfully dusty tone, balancing the weight of its serious topics. It's fun, and this genre work is well done!

What hurts the story for me is its length. The climax of the novella comes on a bit suddenly, which gave the final act a bit of a rushed pace. Beyond just a quick ending, I would've liked more time with Esther and Cye as well the world itself. This isn't just a western story; it's a sci-fi western, taking place in a dystopian and seemingly post apocalyptic United States. So much of this world prompts questions that never get answered, leaving me wanting a chance to explore its cities and outposts in order to better understand the world Esther is so hell-bent on saving.

While Upright Women Wanted doesn't quite nail a bullseye, it still hits the target. There's just so much going on in this novella that a longer word count could've helped it fully flesh out its setting and given its characters more space to venture out. That said, Upright Women Wanted is still a fun read that manages to explore queer themes of identity and rebellion against the playful backdrop of a dystopian western world.

The Bad (but not quite ugly)

Final round-up:

It's a fun ride but could've been much more.

Cover review: ain't bad but not crazy about it. Don't know why the scene is vertical, but it's not the most confounding thing I've ever seen.

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