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River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - 2* - My Review

Absurdist tale based on a (real) US Government plan to import hippos into Louisiana to help regulate invasive plants and provide a source of meat. This book provides an alternate history where this plan actually occurs, but the author sets it in the mid-to-late 1800s instead of 1910. In this version of America, cowboys (hippoboys?) ride domesticated hippos, ranches exist for raising hippos (similar to cattle ranching), and feral hippos are roaming the marshlands. A group of misfits is hired by the US Government to remove the feral hippos as they are mean critters that are wreaking havoc. This group is led by protagonist Winslow Houndstooth, a bisexual hippo rancher seeking revenge. He sets out to recruit others with specific skills, including a Frenchwoman con artist, a nonbinary demolitions expert, and a pregnant assassin.

It is supposed to be set in nineteenth century America, but this is one of those contemporary tales dressed up in a historic costume. Nothing about this story seemed like it was truly set in the 1800s, but at least it is not intended to be taken seriously. Read it for the entertainment value but do not expect any significant character development or a plot that makes any sense. There is a significant amount of animal-human and human-to-human violence. The premise is intriguing, and I enjoyed parts of it, but the overall storyline did not quite work.