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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After reading Before We Were Yours, I was excited to read another book based on true events. Overall the story was good, but I felt the character development fell a bit flat. I liked hearing Vivian's story but felt no strong emotions for her. Molly's story was interesting but it could have been written a lot better. The other characters in the book were pretty useless overall. I also felt the book ended a bit abruptly, while it ended well, I wanted a little bit more.
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
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:
No
This was so interesting - a great mix of past and present, and it was a wild ride to learn about the real “orphan trains” that ran during that time period.
This was a really enjoyable book. So good I read it in one sitting. Nice balance of character study and history. Heartwarming without being schmaltsy.
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-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
I would have rated it higher but I find the charters quite banal.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
Thought this book was good but it wasn’t one of my favorites... it was written well and had a lot of interesting aspects but it didn’t captivate my attention
Hum, I don't know what all the hype and 5 star reviews were about on this book.
The story was long drawn, slow to build and very dull. The back and forth is usually entertaining and keeps the storyline moving along but in this case it was did nothing but make you confused and wonder if the characters were ever going to get interesting.
Barely made it through.
The story was long drawn, slow to build and very dull. The back and forth is usually entertaining and keeps the storyline moving along but in this case it was did nothing but make you confused and wonder if the characters were ever going to get interesting.
Barely made it through.
I was very disappointed with this book. I've been interested in orphan trains since I read a boxcar children story about it in elementary school, so I was excited to read a slightly more mature take. I think the Boxcar Children version was a lot better.
It was a painful read, but I'm not one to quit reading a fiction book because no matter how predictable, I'm compelled to finish.
The author seemed to just open a book of stereotypes and include them all in horribly exaggerated ways. The drunk Irish father, the tired, probably bipolar mother who has too many children (more than one in this book), the racist conservative foster parent who's just in it for the money (don't get me started on the completely unnecessary insertion of the author's political opinions), the angsty goth teenager, the eccentric old woman, the kind school teacher, the subdued man who is nice to people except when his mean wife is around, the Hispanic housekeeper.....just very annoying to read.
I found Molly to be incredibly unlikeable. The only story I cared about was Vivian's, and even that one was very predictable as well. It read like a history book sometimes in a very awkward way, and some of it was just so unnecessary and seemed to exist solely to support the author's weird agendas.
If you're looking for a much better historical fiction about orphans, I recommend Before We Were Yours. It's pretty much the same concept of switching between a young and old version with a young woman discovering her connections to the past, but much better writing.
It was a painful read, but I'm not one to quit reading a fiction book because no matter how predictable, I'm compelled to finish.
The author seemed to just open a book of stereotypes and include them all in horribly exaggerated ways. The drunk Irish father, the tired, probably bipolar mother who has too many children (more than one in this book), the racist conservative foster parent who's just in it for the money (don't get me started on the completely unnecessary insertion of the author's political opinions), the angsty goth teenager, the eccentric old woman, the kind school teacher, the subdued man who is nice to people except when his mean wife is around, the Hispanic housekeeper.....just very annoying to read.
I found Molly to be incredibly unlikeable. The only story I cared about was Vivian's, and even that one was very predictable as well. It read like a history book sometimes in a very awkward way, and some of it was just so unnecessary and seemed to exist solely to support the author's weird agendas.
If you're looking for a much better historical fiction about orphans, I recommend Before We Were Yours. It's pretty much the same concept of switching between a young and old version with a young woman discovering her connections to the past, but much better writing.