Member Reviews
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me an e-arc!
Let me start off by saying that this book is SO GOOD. You will not be able to put it down, especially because it’s based on a horrific massacre that really happened, yet is seldom talked about or taught in schools. Honestly, I was so confused how I had never heard about this and also horrified that something so terrible can just be lost to history.
This is my first read by this author, and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting (not in a bad way at all though!) I like to go into books blind, so I knew that this takes place in the late 1800s and understood it to be a thriller/mystery type genre like the other novels by this author. Personally, to me, this read more like a historical fiction, but definitely a fast-paced one that keeps you up reading!! The story is horrific, because the real events that happened are horrific.
I’m not going to go too deep into the premise. We follow along on the journey of a family making their way across the country in a wagon, hoping to find a better life out west. The family is part of many other families in a convoy traveling together, setting up camp at various spots along the way. There are tensions with the Mormons, so the travelers try to keep to themselves as much as they can. However, when the group is told to leave an area they had been camped out, they are so quick to rush that they have no time to collect their dead cattle- very sick dead cattle, unbeknownst to them. When the Mormons and their allies take the dead cattle for meat and for its skin, a deadly illness spreads. Thinking that this was an intentional attack, the Mormons are ready for revenge, instructing their allies on what to do.
This book is written in multiple point of views, which I really enjoyed because it allows the reader to see the events from multiple sides and understand how this terrible massacre came to be. The author took such care to do a lot of heavy research, (read the author’s note/acknowledgements at the end!!) and although this was hard to read at points, I think the topic is so so important! This will break your heart, make you angry, and take you on every emotion in between.
Just as a personal aside, I am from the central New York area and I was so excited to see a mention of the Oswego River!! I know Syracuse is mentioned often in books, but I have never seen a reference to the Oswego River, so I really appreciated that detail being included!
Anyway, this is definitely worth the read!!
I am a huge Noelle W. Ihli fan and the fact that this book beautifully marries the thriller genre with historical fiction just makes me love her even more. I was not familiar with this piece of history prior to starting this book, but it was fascinating and interesting and heartbreaking and kept me turning pages to learn more. It reads like a thriller with the fascination of it being based on actual history. I really hope Noelle Ihli writes more within this genre as I really enjoyed it. Thank you to NetGalley and to XPresso Book Tours for this ARC of None Left to Tell by Noelle W. Ihli.
DNF. Requested based off genre, cover, and title/ didn’t realize it was based on the true topic that it was or had history in it.
Five blisteringly bright stars for this fast paced, action packed and emotional story. This is marketed as a historical thriller but I would not label this a thriller in any way. However, this is one of the best historical fiction novels I’ve ever read. Going into this, I knew absolutely nothing about the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Granted it happened more than 150 years ago in Utah, but I am still shocked that this is such a well-kept “secret”. I refuse to think that I missed this in the history lessons. This story is eye opening and definitely worth telling. One of the biggest takeaways for me was that the hate we see in the world today really hasn't changed that much in nearly 200 years.
I love that the story is told from the perspective of women…three very different women. Lucy is a Mormon. Sally is a 17 year old Native American turned Morman who's basically been "gifted" to an old man as his 4th wife. Katrina is a "gentile" who is just trying to move her family west to save her daughter from tuberculosis. After part one, Katrina’s perspective is replaced with Emma’s and Nancy’s. The three different POVs make for a well-rounded story. You get this intimate look from almost every possible angle. The author isn’t trying to sell you on one side or the other, she is simply telling the story in the most factual way possible.
There is so much grief and loss in this book and the emotion is palpable. I was completely captivated by this story because it is based on real events that I had no idea ever occurred. It took 2 years for the U.S. government to uncover the mass graves of the innocent people who perished in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Two Years!!! I feel like that would not be possible today. Not because society, in general, has improved but because the media (in all forms) would have this in every single home in about 5 minutes. I feel like so much of history gets lost when people stop telling stories so I am so glad that I came across this book and learned this story. It was heartbreaking and sickening.
This is my first book by Noelle West Ihli but her storytelling is excellent and I know that I will be looking for more of her books. She infused so much emotion into these characters and this story and it was incredibly easy to just get completely lost. I will be recommending this book to every reader I come across.
DNF @25%- don’t think this is a bad book. I just lost interest and it was slow. Definitely a different type of book from Noelle, as I wouldn’t consider it a thriller. Will still pick up her books!
None Left to Tell is out now. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I didn’t realize this was a historical fiction which is not the genre I usually read and therefore was not really able to get into it and couldn’t finish. The writing, however, is great and although it was my first book from this author, I’ve only heard great things about this author and will be reading more of her books in the future. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for allowing me to read and review.
This was not the story I expected it to be going in.
I was expecting a thriller. Something to read during spooky season.
But this was not that.
This was historical fiction based on a true story, and it was harrowing and heartbreaking and beautifully told, so I read it anyway.❤
The storytelling in this book was beautiful. The little details as the family traveled, the dress that Sally wore and what it must have been like to be in the situation she was forced into, and Lucy’s attempts to reconcile the events around her. I felt for all three of these women, and their children.
If you’re looking for a light thriller this probably isn’t it, but I would recommend giving it a read because it is a well-researched, important tale.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Dynamite books for this thought-provoking read. This one really got me thinking.
Prior to hearing about this book, I knew nothing about the mountain meadows massacre. I was deeply intrigued as I grew up in the LDS culture and was raised in a deeply Mormon town. This book was so eye opening. Wow. It had my pulse racing while it was breaking my heart. It was beautifully told, heartbreaking, and infuriating all at the same time. For my first historical thriller, I’m glad this is the one I went with. You can feel the author's connections to these characters in her writing. I highly recommend this.
I am obsessed with this book. I have now read all of her books and I think this may be my new favorite. I was immediately sucked in and couldn’t put this down! I will recommend this to everyone and I cannot wait to listen to the audiobook to see how the second time with the story goes.
This is such an important true story that I’m shocked I’ve never heard before. Noelle West Ihli really put a lot of heart into this devastating novel and it shows. It’s a tough read due to the subject matter but it’s so well done and really sheds light on all the victims.
Thank you Netgalley and Dynamite Books for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
What a riveting, sad, horrifying book, chronicling a true event in US history.
Noelle Ihli has created a stunning narrative about life in the late 1850’s, and the quest of American families to head west and settle new territories.
An event, that is historically true, is the basis of the book, known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
As a wagon train of families traveling through the dusty and dangerous Utah territory, heading for California, is attacked and raided by the Paiutes, a local native tribe. The cattle are herded away, and as the wagon train circles for protection, they are ready to defend their families.
At that time, the Mormon leaders were allied with the Paiutes against the American government.
Brigham Young, the Mormon leader was seeking to make the Utah territory a sovereign nation.
The massacre which happened that day was long disputed as to who the attackers actually were.
The Mormons maintained it was the Paiutes, and vice versa.
This book reveals the true story of this massacre, and the murders of innocent men, women and children. It’s horrific event in American history, told with well written detail and woven into a gripping story by Ms. Ihli.
This is a 5 star must read book!
Thank you to NetGalley and Dynamic Press Books for the advance copy in return for my honest review.
I have read Noelle West Ihli before and have not been disappointed. This time I can say I still feel the same way! Her writing is amazing and this story was absolutely nuts!!! Also the fact that it’s based on true events (although changed in certain sections for fictional purposes) makes it even more crazy! Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this!!
I am one of the guilty ones that was not aware of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. If I ever learned about it, I did not retain it. I really enjoyed this book. It brought this piece of history back to life. It brought the souls that were taken too early back to life to tell their story. I love how Noelle Ihli took so much time and care to really know the history and put this book together. 5 stars from me. Thank you for sharing this project of yours with us.
This was a good book and had some interesting parts but it was much different than her other books. This took more of a historical novel than a thriller or mystery vibe. For one I didn’t know this story so I ended up getting information and researching about it once I read the book. It wasn’t a bad book but it just didn’t catch me like her other books have.
This book broke my heart. What an exceptional and truly devastating read. What made this even more devastating is it's based on the very real history of one of the most brutal massacres in US history.
Now I am a fantasy reader to my core, so picking up this historical thriller was was way out of my norm. But holy cow, I am SO glad I read this! The author's writing is so gripping that I actually lost sleep several nights in a row because I could not put down this book. The characters and their joys/pains are so detailed that it makes them feel real. I finished the book and just stared at the wall because I couldn't wrap my mind around the brutality of it all. This is devastatingly beautiful writing that will hit you hard.
Thank you to Dynamite Books and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.
My Rating: 4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ really well written and got me into a genre I don’t usually read!!
Three women, connected by on the most brutal mass murders in US history. This book is a harrowing tale that is based on the true events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, which makes it that much more horrifying.
I really like Noelle Ihli’s novels especially the based on true events, this is the second like that and it didn’t disappoint. (I will caveat that one or two of her novels were a flop for me but thats pretty normal in the scheme of things).
This book took me a little bit to get into it, if you are anything like me and you aren’t normally into historical fiction/based on true events fiction then this might take a hot minute. Just as I was thinking perhaps this is not for me… boom… shit got real and I was hooked.
The book is based in 1860 (I think) and times really were different, the first half of the book we follow three women and their story and how it interconnects. Then it goes up to about halfway through the book when the violence really kicks off and you are left with your jaw hanging open… it then switches to part two when we hear from three women again but a couple of them are different. I am not going to go into their stories because I think it is worth reading it from start to end to really get a feel for it.
The story is heartbreaking and its made all the worse by the fact that you know this actually happened. While this is based on a true story Noelle has stayed very true to the story so in fact… its very very based on true events and when I did a google search I was horrified by how factual it was. If the synopsis on GoodReads is even remotely of interest to you then I do recommend you pick it up.
The author does a really good lead in about why shes writing this book and also a fade out with names of the real people kills in the massacre. I think this added a really good level of realism and emotion to the story.
I was really impressed with the research and effort that went into this and I am really glad I read it. Off the top of my head I think CarolG you might like this one as I know you like cross genre’s and often read historical fiction.
I want to thank Dynamite Books, NetGalley and the author for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.
More historical than thriller but definitely a story worth telling! I’ve never heard of the Meadow Massacre and so glad the author wrote this based on true events book! The parts at the end that explain more of the history behind it were fascinating.
Three women connected by an event and their parts of the tale are told beautifully, woven together so well and will break your heart at times. Not a time period or part of history that I knew anything about and you learn a lot without it feeling like information is being crammed at you. Truly written so well.
Thanks to Netgalley and Dynamite books for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
Another great book by one of my favorite authors!! This book follows three different women and I really loved Sally's story. So sad that this is all based on true events. I would definitely recommend if you enjoy historical fiction. It didn't read as a typical thriller to me but I still really enjoyed.
This book was well written but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it was marketed as historical fiction. I do see it has changed now but when I first chose it I was expecting more of a thriller which I wasn’t getting. I did enjoy all of the characters but I was waiting for the twists and thrills and they fell flat for me. But if I went into it seeing it as historical fiction I do think I would have enjoyed it alot more.
**ARC Review**
I was blown away by this book. The story is heartbreaking and incredible, and it was told beautifully. I did not know anything about this historical event prior to reading, and I have been telling anyone and everyone who will listen that they need to read it as well. I highly recommend this to any fans of historical fiction, thriller/suspense novels, or anyone else for that matter. Even if this genre isn't normally your thing, take a chance and read this one.
Character Rating
This book has a cast of main characters. They are each wonderfully written, and I was engrossed in their stories, as individuals and as a collective, from the first page. The fact that these are all based on actual people just adds to my amazement. Noelle Ihli fantastically wrote them as complex, dynamic characters. She captured the best and worst of humanity incredibly.
Relationships Rating
With such a large cast of characters, you want to see connections weaved throughout them all. Noelle Ihli delivered that in spades. She masterfully depicted the lives and relationships of these people, showing how even small interactions had lasting impacts on the story. There are familial ties, romantic ties, and religious/spiritual ties that tether them all together in various ways.
Emotional Impact Rating
Man 0h man, the emotional roller coaster on this one. It's one thing to tell a story based on historical events. It's another thing to create moving prose that touches the heart of a reader. I felt the excitement, anger, anguish, despair, hope, and tragedy every step of the way. This book has left a mark on me, and I will not forget it.
Writing Style Rating
Noelle Ihli delivered in every way with this book. The pacing was incredible, I loved how she divided the book into two parts, and I was hanging on every word. Her descriptions are vivid, both from a mental/emotional perspective and a physical one. For anyone who avoids violence, I urge you to read anyway. She describes events enough to bring gravity, but not in an unbearable manner.
Spice Rating
There are two (maybe three?) brief closed door scenes, but they do not interfere with the plot in any way. In fact, the moments that are depicted feel like a welcome reprieve from some of the heavy moments of the story.