Desa Kincaid: Bounty Hunter is the first book in this surprising mixed genre series. It’s a young adult novel that has a bit of fantasy and western meets post-apocalyptic world with a little sprinkle of sci-fi. We begin with Desa, our titled protagonist on her 10 year chase after the big bad, Benedarian.

Although there was an unpredictable combination of genres, it actually worked well together. The way R. S. Penney utilized each piece to weave a perfectly blended story, was welcomely surprising. I am not a huge fan of most of these genres, but the journey pulled me in. I was able to connect with the characters and that is what pushed the story forward.

With a largely diverse cast of characters, there was someone for everyone. I loved that there was a huge focus on the diversity of sexuality, relationships, acceptance, and love. Above that, there were so many themes throughout the story that expressed things like the primitive vs sophisticated, witchery vs religion, and so on.

Although the overall story was great, it had a few things that slowed me down. With the repetitiveness of explaining Field Binding everytime it was used, it became redundant and I started to gloss over things. Rather than explaining throughout the novel, building on top of what is already there could have enhanced the experience.

R. S. Penney was able to bring things into the forefront of the readers’ minds and set things up to continue throughout the rest of the series.

I give this 4.5 stars, and remember, “To Field Bind, you must learn to commune with the Ether.” -Desa Kincaid

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