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kbranfield's review against another edition
4.0
With a slight element of magical realism, Hanna Who Fell from the Sky by Christopher Meades is a clever coming of age novel about a teenager who is on the cusp of becoming a much older man's fifth wife.
Hanna and her family are part of a polygamist community that feels more like a cult than a true religious society. One of their practices is to send the young men off to live on their own while the young women are expected to marry the much older men in the congregation. Keeping with tradition, one week before her eighteenth birthday, Hanna is betrothed to her father's friend Edwin. At first resigned to her fate to become the older man's fifth wife, Hanna begins to harbor reservations about her upcoming nuptials after meeting Daniel Rossiter. Daniel and his family have just returned from a trip outside their enclave and Hanna is captivated by his stories of life away from their town of Clearhaven. With her wedding day fast approaching, Hanna's mother Kara urges her daughter to leave town but Hanna is conflicted about leaving her younger siblings behind with their drunken, abusive father.
While Hanna is quite dedicated to all of her younger siblings, she is most committed to caring for her sister Emily. With a severe curvature to her spine, Emily's mobility is extremely limited and Hanna devotes herself to helping her sister navigate through her daily tasks. An obedient daughter, she never questions her role in the religious community which gives women very little power over their own lives. After an enlightening discussion with one of her prospective groom's wives, doubts about her upcoming wedding begin to creep in. These misgivings leave her questioning many of the teachings of their religion. After Kara confides the truth about her daughter's origins, Hanna becomes even more convinced that her future might not lie within the confines of Clearhaven. However, Hanna is conflicted as she tries to decide whether or not her duty to her family carries more weight than her desire to do what is best for her.
Hanna Who Fell from the Sky is a riveting young adult novel with a wonderfully interwoven element of magical realism. With Hanna’s fate cleverly concealed until the novel’s exciting conclusion, the story moves at blistering pace. An interesting and thought-provoking American debut by Christopher Meades that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend to adults and older teens.
Hanna and her family are part of a polygamist community that feels more like a cult than a true religious society. One of their practices is to send the young men off to live on their own while the young women are expected to marry the much older men in the congregation. Keeping with tradition, one week before her eighteenth birthday, Hanna is betrothed to her father's friend Edwin. At first resigned to her fate to become the older man's fifth wife, Hanna begins to harbor reservations about her upcoming nuptials after meeting Daniel Rossiter. Daniel and his family have just returned from a trip outside their enclave and Hanna is captivated by his stories of life away from their town of Clearhaven. With her wedding day fast approaching, Hanna's mother Kara urges her daughter to leave town but Hanna is conflicted about leaving her younger siblings behind with their drunken, abusive father.
While Hanna is quite dedicated to all of her younger siblings, she is most committed to caring for her sister Emily. With a severe curvature to her spine, Emily's mobility is extremely limited and Hanna devotes herself to helping her sister navigate through her daily tasks. An obedient daughter, she never questions her role in the religious community which gives women very little power over their own lives. After an enlightening discussion with one of her prospective groom's wives, doubts about her upcoming wedding begin to creep in. These misgivings leave her questioning many of the teachings of their religion. After Kara confides the truth about her daughter's origins, Hanna becomes even more convinced that her future might not lie within the confines of Clearhaven. However, Hanna is conflicted as she tries to decide whether or not her duty to her family carries more weight than her desire to do what is best for her.
Hanna Who Fell from the Sky is a riveting young adult novel with a wonderfully interwoven element of magical realism. With Hanna’s fate cleverly concealed until the novel’s exciting conclusion, the story moves at blistering pace. An interesting and thought-provoking American debut by Christopher Meades that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend to adults and older teens.
smartestpink's review against another edition
2.0
Not recommended this book. Hanna is idiot which she received several escape chance and they gave her huge hint to escape. Very slow story
knp4597's review against another edition
2.0
The mutant with special powers bit was such an odd plot twist. Completely unnecessary and rather distracting. Would have been just fine - better - without it. I.e. Hanna is found abandoned, unbeknownst to her, and is taken in by a local FLDS chapter and decides to break free a lá [b:The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice|17333444|The Witness Wore Red The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice|Rebecca Musser|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397434872s/17333444.jpg|24064772].
badly_behaved_books's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
njohnson246's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Am interesting book but the “fantasy twist” sort of threw me off. I wanted Hannah to be a regular girl who got out of a terrible situation, instead of some chosen one who was “meant for better things” (aren’t all girls meant for better things than forced mariage?) I did like the ending though (like literally the last chapter, it keeps you guessing right to the end).
taylorfrecker's review against another edition
4.0
Hanna has lived in Clearhaven all of her life. In fact, she has never left the town at all. Soon she will turn eighteen and marry the man her father chose for her. She will be Edwin’s fifth wife. Hanna has always believed she was meant for more than being just another wife of a man more than twice her age. She often thinks about leaving Clearhaven and becoming the person she always wanted to be. But that would mean disobeying not only her father, but the Creator. When she meets a boy who has spent the last year outside of Clearhaven, she wonders if maybe leaving is actually possible. But will it be worth it if she has to leave behind her mother, her siblings, and everything she has ever known?
This book is beautifully written. I am a sucker for beautiful sentences and this book provided them for me. A character is introduced with the words, “She’d emerged from the womb with a strong mind and a twisted back.” At another point, Hanna wonders, “How long in my life have I been waiting for the wolves to pounce?” which draws a perfect parallel between her situation in life and the actual wolves in front of her. Along with beautiful sentences, Meades did well creating characters that were believable. He provided a good sense of the impending troubles without giving away too much too soon. A few times I felt the writing started to lean a little more toward telling than showing but overall it was well done. The story is engaging and kept me interested up until the end. There were surprises and unexpected developments that kept me guessing throughout.
I think the only part of this book that I wasn't quite on board with were the fantasy parts. (I don't want to give too much away here, so I'll just say what you already know, Hanna fell from the sky.) I wouldn't say that the whole story contains fantasy elements, just some of it. I would have preferred there to be either more fantasy throughout or none at all. Since there was just a little bit here and there, it didn't seem to quite fit into the rest of the story.
Life in Clearhaven is not what most would consider to be normal. Meades is able to shed light on what life can be like in a cult and the type of experiences some people have lived, which isn’t often talked about. The reader is able to see how hard it can be for people involved in this kind of life to break out of it. Hanna has only known this life and has been told that the world outside is not a good place. She yearns for it but worries that everything she has been told is true. We get to see her internal, and sometimes, external struggles as she tries to figure out who she will become.
After the book ends, Meades takes the time to share where the idea for the book came from and how writing the book helped him through a really hard time as he was healing from a brain injury. I enjoyed getting to see this glimpse into the author’s life. I was able to get an idea of just how much work he put into the story and how special it is to him.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Hanna Who Fell from the Sky. A good story coupled with beautiful writing is a winner in my book. I would recommend this book to others. Go check it out!
This book is beautifully written. I am a sucker for beautiful sentences and this book provided them for me. A character is introduced with the words, “She’d emerged from the womb with a strong mind and a twisted back.” At another point, Hanna wonders, “How long in my life have I been waiting for the wolves to pounce?” which draws a perfect parallel between her situation in life and the actual wolves in front of her. Along with beautiful sentences, Meades did well creating characters that were believable. He provided a good sense of the impending troubles without giving away too much too soon. A few times I felt the writing started to lean a little more toward telling than showing but overall it was well done. The story is engaging and kept me interested up until the end. There were surprises and unexpected developments that kept me guessing throughout.
I think the only part of this book that I wasn't quite on board with were the fantasy parts. (I don't want to give too much away here, so I'll just say what you already know, Hanna fell from the sky.) I wouldn't say that the whole story contains fantasy elements, just some of it. I would have preferred there to be either more fantasy throughout or none at all. Since there was just a little bit here and there, it didn't seem to quite fit into the rest of the story.
Life in Clearhaven is not what most would consider to be normal. Meades is able to shed light on what life can be like in a cult and the type of experiences some people have lived, which isn’t often talked about. The reader is able to see how hard it can be for people involved in this kind of life to break out of it. Hanna has only known this life and has been told that the world outside is not a good place. She yearns for it but worries that everything she has been told is true. We get to see her internal, and sometimes, external struggles as she tries to figure out who she will become.
After the book ends, Meades takes the time to share where the idea for the book came from and how writing the book helped him through a really hard time as he was healing from a brain injury. I enjoyed getting to see this glimpse into the author’s life. I was able to get an idea of just how much work he put into the story and how special it is to him.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Hanna Who Fell from the Sky. A good story coupled with beautiful writing is a winner in my book. I would recommend this book to others. Go check it out!
emkovar's review against another edition
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
daisyporter's review against another edition
3.0
I HATE when a supernatural element is introduced midway through. This book didn't need it.
jaclynday's review against another edition
3.0
I'll read anything set in a polygamist sect, but the story veered in strange, otherworldly directions that felt jarring and unnecessary. Writing a semi-realistic fable is hard work and when done right, it has enormous payoffs for the reader (see The Bear and the Nightingale, a favorite of mine). This, though, was too weakly conceived to reach real coherence.