Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
I listened to this on audiobook. I did not really enjoy it. It was "Pride and Prejudice" mixed with "Outlander".
I tend to read this book every spring. It just has a vividness that you don't find in a lot of the popular books these days. Donati has an amazing handle on the language and an almost poetic prose at times. This does work against her later on in the book, when I'm a little tired of every little thing being described with elegant language and just want to get down to the plot and characters, but for the most part I love it.
adventurous
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
Set in a remote, mountainous New York village, in a United States that has only just won its independence, Into the Wilderness is the story of Elizabeth Middleton, recently of England. Trying to control her own destiny with a determined nature and a deep desire for equality, the village of Paradise seems to be designed to drive Elizabeth crazy. With the strain of relations between the natives, part-natives and the white newcomers, in a world where life seems to sometimes hang by a thread, Elizabeth also finds that a life in the wilderness has no end of lessons to teach her about life, love and what is worth sacrificing for.
Thoughts:
*If you have read (or watched) Last of the Mohicans, several of the characters in this book will be familiar to you - which was fun
*It's a romance, for sure. Know this ahead of time. Reminded me somewhat of Outlander, although not quite so steamy. Still, however, several "scenes," and truthfully, sometimes they felt beautiful and the timing in the plot fit just right but then many times I felt like our author said, "oh, it's been a while since we had a scene, we better have one now" and that annoyed me.
*I liked the love interest, Nathaniel. Living as a native among the Mohawks, he provided an interesting contrast to Elizabeth and her way of doing things. Overall, I think, I liked this part of the book best, when the story was sorting through these two completely different ways of living and raising children.
*There were plot twists that surprised me, although some threads took a bit too long to plow through.
*The truth: I liked the book. I cared about Elizabeth and Nathaniel and their respective groups of people. I liked the time period and I felt like it was very well researched. There was at least one major plothole that kept bugging me and a few predictable events but enough surprises that I never felt like I was totally wasting my time.
*Also the truth: when I finished it, I threw it on the ground in irritation. I read 876 pages and in the last 20 or so, TWO major plot points were introduced (one way more significant than the other, but still) and NEITHER WERE RESOLVED. Are you kidding me? I was so annoyed that their story didn't wrap up in some way. I think I'm still mad.
**addendum: when I went to find an image to go with this post, I discovered that there are more books about them - many. That makes me feel a bit better except that, for me, this one was enough. I went ahead and read all the plot summaries of the other books so now I know, but I just don't feel like I have it in me to make that sort of investment, at least not right now (they are all 600+ pages).
And there you go. I don't necessarily regret reading it, I just don't know if I am thrilled that I spent so long reading it to finish feeling so unfinished. Take from that what you will.
Thoughts:
*If you have read (or watched) Last of the Mohicans, several of the characters in this book will be familiar to you - which was fun
*It's a romance, for sure. Know this ahead of time. Reminded me somewhat of Outlander, although not quite so steamy. Still, however, several "scenes," and truthfully, sometimes they felt beautiful and the timing in the plot fit just right but then many times I felt like our author said, "oh, it's been a while since we had a scene, we better have one now" and that annoyed me.
*I liked the love interest, Nathaniel. Living as a native among the Mohawks, he provided an interesting contrast to Elizabeth and her way of doing things. Overall, I think, I liked this part of the book best, when the story was sorting through these two completely different ways of living and raising children.
*There were plot twists that surprised me, although some threads took a bit too long to plow through.
*The truth: I liked the book. I cared about Elizabeth and Nathaniel and their respective groups of people. I liked the time period and I felt like it was very well researched. There was at least one major plothole that kept bugging me and a few predictable events but enough surprises that I never felt like I was totally wasting my time.
*Also the truth: when I finished it, I threw it on the ground in irritation. I read 876 pages and in the last 20 or so, TWO major plot points were introduced (one way more significant than the other, but still) and NEITHER WERE RESOLVED. Are you kidding me? I was so annoyed that their story didn't wrap up in some way. I think I'm still mad.
**addendum: when I went to find an image to go with this post, I discovered that there are more books about them - many. That makes me feel a bit better except that, for me, this one was enough. I went ahead and read all the plot summaries of the other books so now I know, but I just don't feel like I have it in me to make that sort of investment, at least not right now (they are all 600+ pages).
And there you go. I don't necessarily regret reading it, I just don't know if I am thrilled that I spent so long reading it to finish feeling so unfinished. Take from that what you will.
goodreads deleted my review so here is an updated review: READ THIS ON AUDIOBOOK. best narration i've ever heard.
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Going into this, I only had a sense it was similar to Outlander. However, I was taken aback by the mention of some of the characters. To me, it felt as if the author could not build her own a story. I did enjoy it to that point, and again afterwards, because though it has similar themes, it was still different enough. I am not sure I will pick up the rest of the series though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation
Minor: Cursing, Sexism
This book has my favorite first line of all time and fulfills that promise with a beautifully told story filled with finely detailed characters and a rich sense of place and history.
The central character, Elizabeth Middleton, is an engaging heroine whose mixture of strengths and weaknesses is entirely believable. Her relationship with Nathaniel Bonner is also believable as a blossoming romance between grown-ups.
Donati has written four or five volumes in this series, but in my opinion none of them live up to the power of this first story.
The central character, Elizabeth Middleton, is an engaging heroine whose mixture of strengths and weaknesses is entirely believable. Her relationship with Nathaniel Bonner is also believable as a blossoming romance between grown-ups.
Donati has written four or five volumes in this series, but in my opinion none of them live up to the power of this first story.
Loved this novel! It transports you back in time and to a different world. Excellent character development, wonderful backstories, and intense and exciting adventures.
Though the length of this novel provided plenty of time for conflicts and reasonably timed resolutions, towards the end I began to feel that Donati introduced some unnecessary conflicts in the last 100 pages or so. Not all of these finals conflicts were given the time or the resolution they deserved. It was still a good, easy read and I was sad when characters made their departures toward the end. The book definitely ended on a different note than I expected, but not a disappointing one. However, it did leave me wanting more of the story.
I would pick this epically long novel up again just to experience once more the chemistry between the two main characters, Elizabeth and Nathaniel, and the world that Nathaniel exposes Elizabeth to.
Though the length of this novel provided plenty of time for conflicts and reasonably timed resolutions, towards the end I began to feel that Donati introduced some unnecessary conflicts in the last 100 pages or so. Not all of these finals conflicts were given the time or the resolution they deserved. It was still a good, easy read and I was sad when characters made their departures toward the end. The book definitely ended on a different note than I expected, but not a disappointing one. However, it did leave me wanting more of the story.
I would pick this epically long novel up again just to experience once more the chemistry between the two main characters, Elizabeth and Nathaniel, and the world that Nathaniel exposes Elizabeth to.
I loved this entire series! I even bought it so I can read it again . . . something I rarely do.
I wanted to like this book. I heard great things about it, which is why I started to read it in the first place. However, this book reminded me of a 700 page fan fiction from Last of the Mohicans with some Outlander thrown in. I expected better writing and character development. I continued reading waiting for it to get better but it never did.