Reviews

When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky by Margaret Verble

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delia's review

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hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.5

jessicamcculloch's review against another edition

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2.0

The ending? I felt there was no point to the book...

candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition

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4.0

Two Feathers (not her real name) is a young Cherokee woman who rides a diving horse into a tank at a popular 1920s park in Nashville. Two is a star, raised in a family that has been part of the famous 101Ranch wild west show for years. She's a hit with audiences, although most of her work colleagues are unsure how to treat someone who's not white and not black either.

Then, Two and her horse Ocher take off on one of their dives and seem to vanish into the earth as the tank collapses into one of Tennessee's many underground caves. Ocher is killed, Two is injured, and then there are the other strange things that start happening.

Margaret Verble creates a world where a popular and modern summer amusement park and spirits in an ancient cave mingle during one hot summer. It's magical, mysterious, and sad as well. Verble touches on Cherokee culture, black landowning culture, WWI PTSD, and more. This novel is different from anything you've probably ever read, and will stay with you.

emmaevns's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

craftygoat's review against another edition

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4.0

Enjoyed, mostly. Some good characters, some that were hard to read. Nice plot, & interesting history as well, with snapshots of racism & the layers of society. Maybe tried to do too much (for example, did the inclusion of the Scopes trial add anything? did we need to know the content of Two's letters to her family? the details of everyone's courtships?) I felt like it was a longer novel than it needed to be. Still, I'll probably look for other works from this author.