Out of The Easy Review

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Title: Out of the Easy

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Series: None

Publisher: Philomel Books

Publication Date: February 12, 2013

Genre: Historical Fiction; Coming of Age; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 364

Format: Hardback

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It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.

She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

After reading Between Shades of Gray, I was hooked on Sepetys’ effortless recreation of historical settings and intriguing, untold story lines. She taught me about a part of Russian history that is rarely talked about, and, with her most recent novel, I have learned about the surreptitious happenings of the New Orleans underground.

After her mother abandoned her, Josie Moraine was raised by Willie Woodley, the harshest Madam of the French Quarter. Refusing to be sucked into the Big Easy and all that it has to offer, Josie has plans to escape the French Quarter and begin a life of her own, which includes further education. When a murder shakes up the Quarter and Josie, she must battle with her conscience and her dreams of a better future. Mesmerizing New Orleans soon turns into a battlefield as Josie Moraine defeats unforeseen encounters and defies all expectations.

Set in the sketchy recesses of New Orleans, away from the public eye, Out of the Easy is a creative, never-been-heard-before story of a girl who wishes to flee from the life she was born into. Sepetys takes the liberty of telling this story from the point of view of a character that no one has thought of before. I loved the way Sepetys created such a mystic and hypnotic New Orleans for her setting.

While this book captures its readers through its unique historical value, I quickly lost interest towards the last quarter of the book. The plot fizzled out, and, instead of making me turn the pages with curiosity, I was page-flipping with the sole purpose of finishing. The romance, which I don’t think was brought to its full potential, was underdeveloped. If it played more of a role in the plot, it would’ve added an element of suspense that this book was considerably lacking. I felt as if I was thrust into a high-speed story, and in the end, it fell short of the expectations I had set for it. Out of the Easy lacked a strong ending to match its powerful beginning.

The worth of Sepetys’ world building is priceless; I just wish that the plot line was as good as the setting itself. Sepetys’ previous novel Between Shades of Gray was more personal, and you could tell that the author was writing a story that she wanted to tell. Out of the Easy, while not absolutely horrible, was just…unremarkable. Creative, sure, but unfortunately unremarkable.