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mandi4886's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Medical content, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Medical trauma, and Sexism
Moderate: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Racism, and Colonisation
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Mental illness, Infidelity, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Racism, Alcohol, Abandonment, and Pregnancy
briwithabook's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The Children's Blizzard was an interesting book about a real event and time period that I knew little about. The book focuses on the 1888 blizzard that took the lives of many children, thus dubbed "The Children's Blizzard". However, this book was about a lot more than a blizzard. I learned about programs that were designed to get people to settle further and further west, even going so far as to perpetuate fake news to get them out there. The reader was also reminded that the land that the government was trying to settle was land taken from the Native Americans. There was acknowledgment of how Native American children were treated at that time, going to separate schools that were subpar and lacking supplies. I really liked that the book didn't gloss over or ignore these facts of our nation's history.
The book focused on several different characters and how they made it through the storm. We then learned of the repercussions of the decisions that were made. That said, I did feel that some characters were much more fleshed out than others and felt myself wanting more from some of the characters that felt like they were forgotten about (especially since the synopsis implies that you'll be experiencing the journey of two specific characters).
That said, for the characters that did get a lot of focus, I found myself empathizing with and caring about them. I did find several of the characters likable. Those that were unlikable were meant to be, so that did not bother me in the slightest.
I felt that the pacing of the book was slow at times, especially through the middle section. Overall though, I'm glad I read it, because not only did the fictional story keep my interest, but I really enjoyed learning about true events and facts from our nation's history.
The book focused on several different characters and how they made it through the storm. We then learned of the repercussions of the decisions that were made. That said, I did feel that some characters were much more fleshed out than others and felt myself wanting more from some of the characters that felt like they were forgotten about (especially since the synopsis implies that you'll be experiencing the journey of two specific characters).
That said, for the characters that did get a lot of focus, I found myself empathizing with and caring about them. I did find several of the characters likable. Those that were unlikable were meant to be, so that did not bother me in the slightest.
I felt that the pacing of the book was slow at times, especially through the middle section. Overall though, I'm glad I read it, because not only did the fictional story keep my interest, but I really enjoyed learning about true events and facts from our nation's history.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
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