I love pioneering/going west books for the most part and I started out loving this book but ended liking it. I can't quite put my finger on what was different about how this book is written and "These Is my Words" (which is a 5 star book for me and one of my absolute favorites). Both books "tell it like it is" and have lots of sad accounts, but I think "The Diary of Mattie Spenser" just had too much saddness. Still liked it overall but I doubt I reread which "These is my words" is a definite reread lots of times.