morrday's review

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hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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kimby666's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I learned about the Packhorse Librarians through this book. It is overall a sad read with the level of poverty and racism that was present during this time, in that area. It was well written and was very easy to follow. It moved at a good pace, and did a good job with descriptions of the setting and characters. Overall, an interesting read.

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knkoch's review

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

2.0

I have mixed feelings on this one. I do think that stories about the impoverished, underserved communities in the Appalachian mountains aren't told enough. The miner's union and government outreach library program plots were interesting and informative. However, there was a high misery quotient here. And the depiction of the discrimination against the white main character (who has bluish skin due to an inherited medical condition) felt overdone, as if wanting to appropriate the experience of anti-black racism. It seems like a pack horse librarian's job was plenty interesting and challenging on its own without that added element. I guess it felt like the author was building on her considerable research into 1930s Kentucky and creating a plot with more wishful thinking and
highly specious romance
than I could buy into. I thought Demon Copperhead, set during the opiod crisis, was a more nuanced depiction of Appalachian communities and the entrenched issues they grapple with. 

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lilly_dav_reading's review against another edition

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Second scene is a violent rape

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samburkhouse's review against another edition

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

4.75


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laceylollipop's review

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Rape

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whisper88's review against another edition

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

2.5


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nishidake's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.0


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kyrstin_p1989's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I usually love historical fiction but this one took so long to get going that I struggled a lot at first. It didn’t really take off for me until about 100 pages in which is nearly halfway, and that’s why I didn’t rate it higher. The second half of the book kept me reading and I didn’t want to put it down. The historical aspects of the KY Pack Horse program and the blue people of Kentucky were fascinating as a native Kentuckian, especially because I had never heard of the former prior to reading this book. The story is sad and tells of the hardships of rural, Appalachian life in the 1930’s and 40’s with candor and grace. It definitely makes you appreciate the technological, medical, and social advancements we’ve made and just how hardy a people the folks from mining country truly are. 

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pidgepodge's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.0


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