Reviews

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

mb_slaughter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This audiobook is older and not as entertaining as contemporary recordings. I recommend reading the actual book unless there is a newer recording.

fmurray97's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

4.0

irenececilia's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

3.75

jbkreads's review against another edition

dark informative tense slow-paced

3.5

codergrl's review against another edition

4.0

This was really good. I'm hovering between 4 and 5 stars. A well told story with bits of historical references peppered throughout. If only it had a bit more insight into the psychological effects of the ordeal, it would be a solid 5 stars

taylordnelson's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism and Death

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

eleni_daniels's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

seekerxr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

This is definitely one of those nonfic book that reads more like a thriller. The author did a spectacular job of building suspense and did one of my favorite literary devices while writing this book; taking the point of view of the narrator who already knows how the story ends and all the terrible things that will happen and dropping little bits of foreshadowing at the ends of sections and paragraphs to keep the ready on the hook, always tense and unnerved by when disaster is going to strike.

The story of the Donner Party is even more horrific than I ever imagined. I knew the basics going in as I'm sure most people do but the explicit details are so unsettling that they stuck with me even when I wasn't actively reading the book. I had to take a break from reading it even though I wanted to continue because there was a day when I just knew my mental health wouldn't hold up against the heavy story that was being told. If I hadn't had to do that, I probably would've flown through this story in two days.

This book is in a technical sense very easy to read, moving quickly and efficiently through the timeline while still going off on brief tangents that add to the story and never get you bored, but it is a very heavy and dark read all the same. Still, I think this book told the history of the Donner Party in the best way it could to keep the reader engaged while also respecting the solemnity of the tragedy. 

This was a very good read.

yankeebk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

rmarieb's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.25