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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Started off strong with the vividly depicted arrival in the early 1900’s of 17 year old Sylvia Pelletier, her mother and brothers, to the Colorado mining community where her father has been working. And then the story and writing lost me. I wanted to feel invested in the characters, and feel rage at the power struggle and the evils and injustices. Instead I mostly felt bored and found that this story just went on and on and wouldn’t end. There was so much foreshadowing; the story hinted at itself and then I felt let down by the telling. There was so much important historial information here, but goodness I barely got through it.
3.5 I'm rounding up. A fascinating story about mine workers and the horrible conditions they worked in, the families that suffered along with them, and the beginning of unions.
It's a dark story about Sylvia and her family. She arrives to a cold, thin-aired mountain town in Colorado. Her dad has already been here for years and now, the whole family has arrived. The first winter is brutal. "Dead Hours" of shoveling snow off the tracks unpaid and the family freezing and spending their wage at the "company story." No running water, electricty or bathrooms in the houses, the families barely stay warm enough to survived.
The story is interesting from Sylvia's POV. At first, she's young and attends school, walking thorugh drifts of snow. Then she is a teen and working, first in the town and then at the big house. She's privy to information that many other aren't. She's taught to listen, ask questions, and report the truth.
But she slowly watches her father wither. She hears and sees other workers injured. They suffer another winter with unpaid "dead hours" when the whole family must spend hours out shoveling snow off the train tracks for no pay. It isn't until there is a huge tragedy and so many betrayals that Sylvia must decide who she is and what marke she wantst to make on the world. It was interesting to think of the first starts to union and the rights to workers. Interesting to read about the beginning and all the trails they endured. This was a little long but the characters were well developed and kept me reading, wanting to know how it would all turn out for them.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
It's a dark story about Sylvia and her family. She arrives to a cold, thin-aired mountain town in Colorado. Her dad has already been here for years and now, the whole family has arrived. The first winter is brutal. "Dead Hours" of shoveling snow off the tracks unpaid and the family freezing and spending their wage at the "company story." No running water, electricty or bathrooms in the houses, the families barely stay warm enough to survived.
The story is interesting from Sylvia's POV. At first, she's young and attends school, walking thorugh drifts of snow. Then she is a teen and working, first in the town and then at the big house. She's privy to information that many other aren't. She's taught to listen, ask questions, and report the truth.
But she slowly watches her father wither. She hears and sees other workers injured. They suffer another winter with unpaid "dead hours" when the whole family must spend hours out shoveling snow off the train tracks for no pay. It isn't until there is a huge tragedy and so many betrayals that Sylvia must decide who she is and what marke she wantst to make on the world. It was interesting to think of the first starts to union and the rights to workers. Interesting to read about the beginning and all the trails they endured. This was a little long but the characters were well developed and kept me reading, wanting to know how it would all turn out for them.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm so torn on my feelings about this book. On one hand, I felt like it was dragging on forever in so many places and just moving at a glacial pace with very few exciting moments to keep me going. There were also some parts though that felt so rushed and underwhelming when they shouldn't have been. The MC also got on my nerves a lot, mostly just making terrible decisions for horrible reasons.
On the other hand, I did still find myself wanting to read it 🤷♀️ I kept waiting and waiting for this inevitable strike to happen and then once it did to see how it turned out, and honestly we never really see that lol the book leaves off with Sylvie's story instead. I did think the union parts were really interesting and her work with the paper and KT. I also liked the rough parts lol like her father dying and the grueling conditions they endured in the winter. Everything about the romance was so annoying lol big moments felt too rushed and cheapened--like why the heck did George react like that to finding out there was someone else? Like he didn't even know who it was or anything, he just left and abandoned the strike effort there when it was so close to resolved
Lastly I'll say that there were some really well-written parts throughout, and I think that helped keep me going.
Quotes:
On the other hand, I did still find myself wanting to read it 🤷♀️ I kept waiting and waiting for this inevitable strike to happen and then once it did to see how it turned out, and honestly we never really see that lol the book leaves off with Sylvie's story instead. I did think the union parts were really interesting and her work with the paper and KT. I also liked the rough parts lol like
Lastly I'll say that there were some really well-written parts throughout, and I think that helped keep me going.
Quotes:
- We were not taught to question ideals engraved in cast iron. (35)
- "I want for you to appreciate the sociology," the Countess said. "If we make the comfortable village, the habitants don't strike. They work."
"Like slaves," Jasper said.
"Sleeves, pph, "she said. "That's the past."
Perhaps that past is where the bosses got their training, I did not say. (113) - A girl of no means has to be doubly careful with the rich man, not to become a broken toy, as such people have so many. They don't repair what they break, or mend their shoes. They want a new pair and discard the old. But I did not know that then. (135)
- It is a strange human need, to feel we are above the rest. We look for reasons to tell ourselves our ways are correct, better, and that others are lesser, wrong, deluded. I've never figured out why. Perhaps it is because the golden rule, of do unto others is so difficult to obey when greedy, odious characters won't follow the commands of kindness. In truth, we enjoyed the sneering. (176)
- "It's not a crime. It's a right," he said.
His words were a gift. I've kept all my life as a justification and a defense for what I did, and later took. More than a few lumps of coal. (203) - The riddle for me was how to be American like her, but not a knocker, not a snoop, not an Abercrombie, not a socialiste, not a Frenchy, not a witch. not a nincompoop. Not jilted. (218)
- "Complaint is the seed of misery," I said softly. "My mother believes."
"Your mother has it backward," said Mrs. Jones. "Misery is the seed, grows complaint, and that brings justice if you'll only speak up." (268)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism
emotional
inspiring
sad
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Deportation
Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
I couldn't remain interested in this one. It dragged on and I had trouble connecting with the characters.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated