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teacupsandfirereads's review
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is my first book from Harmon. I have heard such great things about her books. I definitely enjoyed learning about a different history than the wars. I appriciate the characters and story. However, I was not emotionally drawn to it. I found it rambled along in a way that often lost me. The ending did leave me with a feeling of satisfaction that I cannot explain completely, so I headed a half star for that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Child death, Death of parent, Death, Kidnapping, and Sexual violence
artemishi's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I'm a child of the 80's, and as such I love a good Oregon Trail story (seriously, all that Little House on the Prairie and playing Oregon Trail for computer class fostered it). And this is definitely a good Oregon Trail story!
Harmon starts the book with a pivotal turning point, then walks us back a few months to the start of the May family's exodus West. She didn't need to hook, as the story has plenty of adventure and challenges that kept me turning pages, as well as a delicious slow-burn romance. But it was effective! When the timeline caught up to that first teased moment, I actually went back to re-read it, then continued onward.
Although the action is external to the characters, how they handle each challenge and hardship highlights and supports their growth throughout the novel. I thought each character in this large cast acted realistically (given the era of the setting) and with the complex messiness that humans always have. Compassion was a running theme, but the author doesn't shy away from anger (justified or not) and grief. While it didn't make me cry, it did make me empathize with the characters (mostly John and Naomi, by design I assume).
The descriptions themselves show a lot of care was taken in the research, both for historical accuracy of the trail, forts, and historical figured met along the way, and for sensitivity to First Nations tribes depicted within the story. The author notes in her afterward that John is based on her husband's real ancestor, and I think her respect for the characters portrayed comes through in ensuring each is multi-faceted.
I definitely recommend it for fans of Historical Fiction, and also slow-burn romance that endures some massive hardships. Bonus- nobody died of dysentery.
(Read for the ClearUrShit and Magical Readathons, and because Shannon recommended it to me)
Harmon starts the book with a pivotal turning point, then walks us back a few months to the start of the May family's exodus West. She didn't need to hook, as the story has plenty of adventure and challenges that kept me turning pages, as well as a delicious slow-burn romance. But it was effective! When the timeline caught up to that first teased moment, I actually went back to re-read it, then continued onward.
Although the action is external to the characters, how they handle each challenge and hardship highlights and supports their growth throughout the novel. I thought each character in this large cast acted realistically (given the era of the setting) and with the complex messiness that humans always have. Compassion was a running theme, but the author doesn't shy away from anger (justified or not) and grief. While it didn't make me cry, it did make me empathize with the characters (mostly John and Naomi, by design I assume).
The descriptions themselves show a lot of care was taken in the research, both for historical accuracy of the trail, forts, and historical figured met along the way, and for sensitivity to First Nations tribes depicted within the story. The author notes in her afterward that John is based on her husband's real ancestor, and I think her respect for the characters portrayed comes through in ensuring each is multi-faceted.
I definitely recommend it for fans of Historical Fiction, and also slow-burn romance that endures some massive hardships. Bonus- nobody died of dysentery.
(Read for the ClearUrShit and Magical Readathons, and because Shannon recommended it to me)
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Sexual violence, and Child death
in_love_with_bookish's review
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I’m blown away by how much I didn‘t care. I sure as hell surprised myself with my reaction to this story. I felt underwhelmed, distanced, and indifferent and I just don’t know where all of it came from.
We spend our lives complicating what we would do better to accept. Because in acceptance, we put our energies into transcendence.
Where the Lost Wander is the type of story that should rip my heart to pieces and make me sob but I felt nothing. The disconnection was unreal and as much as I tried to care, I simply couldn’t. I knew how I was supposed to feel about the story but I did not feel any of it.
I understand what people are loving the story, It is a story about loss, family, grief and it’s an epic love story as well. A lot of people can relate to that easily and Amy Harmon has a beautiful writing style that just hits hard and deep.
It is impossible to explain to someone who is surrounded by their own language and people just how lonely it is to not understand and to not be understood.
For me, I really struggled to engage in the story and to invest in the characters and their journeys. I also didn’t really feel the love story the way I should. Honestly, I was also bored and kept getting distracted easily. The story failed to captivate me and keep me intrigued so the reading experience was a hard one for me, I kept rereading chapters because my mind kept wandering. I kept forgetting characters' names because there were many of them and the author didn’t develop them that much to make them different. I just struggled big time and that cost me everything.
But I’ll say to take this review with a grain of salt. This is a well-loved story and It has a lot of elements I’m sure will appeal to a lot of readers. If you can connect to the characters, you’ll definitely enjoy it way more than me.
If nothing matters, then there’s no point. If everything matters, there’s no purpose. The trick is to find firm ground between the two ways of being.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Kidnapping, and Violence
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