American Hippo
ByPublisher Description
In 2017 Sarah Gailey made her debut with River of Teeth and Taste of Marrow, two action-packed novellas that introduced readers to an alternate America in which hippos rule the colossal swamp that was once the Mississippi River. Now readers have the chance to own both novellas in American Hippo, a single, beautiful volume.
Years ago, in an America that never was, the United States government introduced herds of hippos to the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This plan failed to take into account some key facts about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.
By the 1890s, the vast bayou that was once America's greatest waterway belongs to feral hippos, and Winslow Houndstooth has been contracted to take it back. To do so, he will gather a crew of the damnedest cons, outlaws, and assassins to ever ride a hippo. American Hippo is the story of their fortunes, their failures, and his revenge.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities126 Reviews
Dottie🍂🍁
Created 2 days ago
“This book actually has two books and two novellas in it, so I’m going to break down my review.
1. River of Teeth: 3.75/5 ⭐️
This book was exactly what I was looking for when I picked up American Hippo. It was a rock ‘em sock ‘em heist/cowboy adventure and I had a lot of fun reading it. I wasn’t expecting such a diverse/queer cast of characters and it was a very pleasant surprise.
The pacing was very good and I think the author managed to fit a decent amount of detail into a low page count without it feeling rushed or unbalanced. And it’s such a cool plot! Bananas that hippo farming is a real thing that almost happened.
That being said, though the cast was very diverse they were all a little flat. Everyone kind of had that one thing they were known for and there wasn’t much depth there.
2. Taste of Marrow: 1/5 ⭐️
NGL, with how interesting and fun River of Teeth was, I wasn’t expecting to be this disappointed with the follow up. Taste of Marrow is a direct sequel and picks up days after the ending of RoT, and it’s a sequel that I didn’t really need.
The pacing was disjointed, with some of the scenes being downright confusing to follow. Three of the four main characters were suddenly completely different people, and I found myself caring more about what was happening with the hippos than what their human counterparts were getting up to.
The author also did that thing I hate when people are desperately looking for each other but they keep just missing one another by minutes.
If this had been about the gang living with their respective romantic partners in domestic bliss I would have been much happier with that.
3. Worth Her Weight In Gold (Novella 1): 5/5 ⭐️
It’s a short story about the main character Winslow Houndstooth fighting with his hippo’s dentist. 10/10, zero complaints.
And finally, 4. Nine and a Half (Novella 2): 5/5 ⭐️
I loved getting to see more of Archie and Winslow’s dynamic. ♥️ And getting to see how Archie and Carter first meet was *chef’s kiss*. Archie pulling the “I am no man” card was truly iconic.
Moral of this review being: Read River of Teeth and the two novellas. Skip Taste of Marrow.”prisimyo
Created 3 days ago
“Fun!! Two things really surprised me about this, the fact it was super queer (slay) and super violent (also slay.) It didn't pull punches, fucking everyone is on the dinner table to get eaten by a hippo. The feral hippos were used like the shark in Jaws and honestly it just made for silly, gorey fun. Overall, I had a great time.”jordan
Created 21 days agoJmaa Reads
Created about 2 months ago
“An incredible premise, written as if a western was only ever explained to them poorly. Almost a caricature of the western genre. Characters are flat and only do actions that move the story. There is hardly a story.”Lindsay Randall
Created 3 months agoAbout Sarah Gailey
Other books by Sarah Gailey
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