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annikamanika's review
- 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
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.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Classism, Death of parent, Child death, Violence, Gun violence, Grief, Sexism, Abandonment, Pregnancy, and Xenophobia
Minor: Police brutality and Sexual content
jennaviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Miscarriage, and Classism
Moderate: Blood, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Body shaming, Violence, Grief, Excrement, Animal death, Medical content, and Gun violence
themdash's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Classism, Sexism, Death, Animal death, Police brutality, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry
slahlum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Classism, Violence, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Sexual content
sophia_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Classism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Violence, Xenophobia, and Death
astoriareader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
- 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.
- 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.
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
- 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
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
chelly_reads's review
- 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
Graphic: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Grief, Abandonment, and Death
sophs_mood_reading's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Classism and Bullying
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, Death, Grief, Animal death, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Violence
bergha1998's review against another edition
- 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
Historical Fiction, Emotional Trauma, Mother’s Love, 1 🔥
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