Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

14 reviews

drpthy's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

fancyjess_party's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

gpfot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

sizzlesteaks's review

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Slavery, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Racial slurs and Sexism

fayemomodu's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? No

3.0

The first book I read by this author was The Great Alone and I loved it, so I decided to read another book by her. I didnt love this one as much. It kind of seemed to drag on to me... I wanted it to be over when i was about half way through the book. It is a good, heartwarming story, but seemed a little too long. I did like the characters and following their struggles throughout the book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Grief

sophia_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry

astoriareader's review

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

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

Minor: Chronic illness

bergha1998's review against another edition

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

Minor: Sexual content and War

franklola's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

hhwanghyunjin's review

emotional inspiring 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? Yes

4.25

     As a history major, I always appreciate a well-written historical fiction novel, and Kristin Hannah's "The Four Winds" certainly delivers. Set during the Great Depression, the novel explores the experiences of one family in Texas as they struggle to survive amidst the Dust Bowl and the economic devastation of the era.

    Hannah's writing is vivid and immersive, transporting readers to a time and place that feels both familiar and distant. The characters are richly drawn and sympathetic, particularly the protagonist, Elsa, who must confront incredible hardship and adversity in order to keep her family together.

      At times, the novel can be bleak and harrowing, but there is also a sense of resilience and hope that pervades the story. Hannah does an excellent job of balancing the harsh realities of the time period with moments of beauty and tenderness.

      Overall, I found "The Four Winds" to be a powerful and moving novel that offers a compelling portrait of a difficult time in American history. It's not always an easy read, but it's a rewarding one that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the genre. I would give it a solid 4.25 out of 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Racial slurs, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing and Sexual content