Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

70 reviews

astoriareader's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

SYNOPSIS:

• It is the 1920s in a small farming community in the Texas Panhandle. Elsa Martinelli grew up in a wealthy family, who never appreciated her & make her feel hard to love. At age 25, she hooks up with Rafe, and she winds up pregnant. They get married, and she moves in with Rafe and his parents, Rosa and Tony, on their farm. 
• Fast forward, it is 1930s. Along the stock market crash & The Great Depression, there are also several years of drought and The Dust Bowl. Elsa has two kids now, Ant & Lareda, and with no end in sight to the dust storms, Elsa abandon their home and flee to California where they hope work and a better life await. The book details what happens when the family arrives in California. 

MY THOUGHTS

• As my first read of 2024, I wanted to start off with a book by one of my favorite authors. This marks the fourth book I’ve read by Hannah, with the others being: The Great Alone, The Women, The Nightingale.
• Hannah is an expert at character development & writing strong female characters. I always learn something when reading her historical fictions. In this one, I learned a lot that I didn’t know about the Dust Bowl & migrants.
• I thoroughly enjoyed the bonds that develop among the characters in the book, and the imagery and vivid descriptions of the surroundings were also very well done.
• It is definitely a sweeping story, and it is a hard one to read.
• My only complaint about the book is all the characters were white, and I would have enjoyed different perspectives about the experiences of BIPOC folks.
• Kudos to Hannah for clearly spending a lot of time researching the era & the topics covered in the book.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️historical fiction with strong women as main characters. time period: Dust Bowl.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death of parent, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Grief, Animal death, Police brutality, and Violence

Minor: Chronic illness

sarahfeller's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Cursing, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Sexism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gun violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Alcohol, Bullying, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, Excrement, and Miscarriage

faduma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

crabbytaco's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Police brutality, Abandonment, and Animal death

Minor: Murder and Deportation

artmuseam's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

never in my entire life have i ugly cried because of a book before. i kid you not, almost every chapter of this book had me tearing up and the ending left me a sobbing, emotional wreck. this book touched me deeply with its hardships; when times of mere happiness or joy happened, i awaited the sadness and new adversity that would break it. i was torn by elsa’s story and the journey she made throughout her adulthood, learning what it meant to love in a world that hated her. this is my first kristin hannah novel that i’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. wow. 5/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Gun violence

chelly_reads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Grief, Abandonment, and Death

sophs_mood_reading's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I always knew from the name of the period that the Great Depression was a very hard time but wow this book took on that and tripled it. 

Elsa Martinelli life had never been one of joy but when the 30’s hit her life on the dust bowl turn devastating. The farm is failing, her husband is a drunk and the land is killing the crops, animals and her children. She must make a decision to attempt to save them. 

This novel depicts the physical, mental and emotional struggle of one family in the depression. Told in a duel point of view of mother and daughter it is a beautiful tale of heartache, determination and fear. 

The imagery makes you taste and feel the dry heat and dust. You really are transported to the time. 

It also highlights how easily human nature can attack an outsider or newcomer and how easy people can take on the “Us and Them” mentality to justify cruelty and injustice. 

Warning I did tear up a couple of times so be aware if reading in public. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism and Bullying

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Grief, Animal death, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Violence

bergha1998's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

3.75

So freaking sad, but good! It’s really a story about the love of a mother during the hardships of the Great Depression. It’s told through the perspectives of a mother and her 13 year old daughter. So well done, but sad af. 

Historical Fiction, Emotional Trauma, Mother’s Love, 1 🔥

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Animal death, Death, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: War and Sexual content

baraya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Animal death, Pregnancy, and Violence

zumpers's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Grief, Death, Animal death, Classism, Pregnancy, and Sexual content