Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

30 reviews

sassyykassie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

annikamanika's review

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Four Winds. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how to share my thoughts on it in a way that would meaningfully inform your decisions to read it. I just started typing this in a text to my book club, and I also figured it was appropriate here.

I was in tears within the first few chapters, and I found myself in spontaneous tears repeatedly. Some of it was the author’s intention, and some of it was how I perceived it through a sense of relating to my own life.

The book opens about 10 years before the Depression and the Dustbowl, and it centers around a young woman (Elsa) who is constantly made to feel and told outright that she is unlovable and even unlikable the way she is by her parents and her sisters. Their highest aspiration for her is to live a quiet life, alone in her parents' home. It centers around how Elsa learns to love herself, how she finds her voice, and how her childhood informs her adult choices.

I HAAATED the way it ended, but it makes sense. It is tragic and has many triggers, but it is beautiful.

I will also mention that I listened to this as an audio book which has commentary from the author as bonus material. I highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Police brutality

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

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

abbasaurusrex's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This was my first Kristin Hannah. I saw someone describe the author’s books as the Hallmark movies of historical fiction and now, having finished this, I can confirm that is accurate. Equal parts trauma porn and pearl clutching, this book just did not strike the right chords for me. I appreciated the view into a particular place and time in history that I knew little about, but found it a bit overdone, as it seems like the author is trying to address every single hardship of the Dust Bowl farmers/migrant workers through a single family’s experience. By the end of the book I almost felt sorry for the characters, not as victims of history, but as victims of the author. I just don’t enjoy watching people get dumped on, no matter how “historically accurate” the author might claim the events to be. The character development also didn’t hit. I found all of the characters to be a bit one-note and inconsistent, and their “development” (if you can call it that) seemed forced and incomplete. It’s almost like the author said, “I wanna write about the Dust Bowl,” instead of saying “here are some themes I want to explore, and I think the Dust Bowl and this particular family is the appropriate context in which to examine those themes.” She somehow manages to do too much and too little at the same time. Finally, there is not a single person of color in the narrative. I would have appreciated a more diverse perspective for a book that tries to tackle such a massive part of US history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Pregnancy and Deportation

lidia7's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Police brutality, Grief, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

happyreads's review

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Terminal illness, Grief, and Medical trauma

Minor: Alcohol

kels24's review

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gun violence, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Minor: Grief

marybsimp's review against another edition

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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

corriejn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Move over, Grapes of Wrath. I got through this entire book without realizing it's by the author of "The Nightingale," but I'm not surprised-- similar depth of characters and bringing to life historical settings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit

The audiobook version includes a really lovely short interview with the author and the narrator, that sheds interesting light on the process of writing the book and creating the characters, as well as the process of bringing the story to life via the audiobook narration.