Sarah Jac and James Holt traveled from ranch to ranch harvesting maguey, a plant which makes tequila and other alcoholic liquids. They pay is low and the conditions were worse. Sarah and James compensated by creating a con that they enacted at each farm they worked at. It started with pretending that they were cousins, not a romantic couple, so that James could sweet talk another girl. But this time, with all the weird rumors of a curse at the newest ranch, they may pay a high price to hold onto their love.
All the Wind in the World was something else. It wrote of a time period and situation I was not familiar with. It was set sometime in the late nineteenth century or early twentieth century in the deserts of the South. There were ranches that grew maguey, and the workers were little more than slaves. They were paid, but not much, and they were treated harshly. The owners were rich and privileged, and they cared not for their employees. In many ways, this book was written to show the injustices of the time and location. To show readers that this happened. The author did that well, and I enjoyed the peek into a different time and place.
The rest of the book was not the best. The plot was the relationship between Sarah and James and the supposed curse on the ranch. It was complicated, and there were plot twists I was not expecting. The overall tone was depressing, fitting with the themes in the novel. The part about the curse was never fully explained. Some of it was explained, but the why's, how's, and what next's were left to guesswork. I was irritated with all the major characters except one. Definitely not my newest favorite book.
Still, I would recommend it to others, those who enjoy historical, YA romances.
I received a complementary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.