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jennaaah's review
2.0
Big time Spoilers:
Everything bad about the 1880’s seemed to be dumped into one book. Dysfunctional relationships, death by nature and murder, selling kids, newspaper omissions, depression, all the problems of immigrating to a new territory and the end where it just grazes the horrors Indian children faced when they were taken away from their homes to be “schooled” for their own good. Yuck this book should not have happened.
I had never heard about the children’s blizzard before this book. For that reason I gave it two stars and that’s being generous. I was intrigued to read about their strategy to survive such a brutal event. What I got was half a book of blizzard and the second half a super sad life story of those main characters. It spans unknown years but why??? I know why people stopped reading halfway through, the rest is so very unnecessary. I would have liked to have my own imagination hope for the best for all that survived the blizzard.
What happened was super sad but it wasn’t told in a way that you can feel and relate to the characters. I thought all the characters where awful in their own way except maybe Annette. So if you still want to read about the blizzard read the first half.
Everything bad about the 1880’s seemed to be dumped into one book. Dysfunctional relationships, death by nature and murder, selling kids, newspaper omissions, depression, all the problems of immigrating to a new territory and the end where it just grazes the horrors Indian children faced when they were taken away from their homes to be “schooled” for their own good. Yuck this book should not have happened.
I had never heard about the children’s blizzard before this book. For that reason I gave it two stars and that’s being generous. I was intrigued to read about their strategy to survive such a brutal event. What I got was half a book of blizzard and the second half a super sad life story of those main characters. It spans unknown years but why??? I know why people stopped reading halfway through, the rest is so very unnecessary. I would have liked to have my own imagination hope for the best for all that survived the blizzard.
What happened was super sad but it wasn’t told in a way that you can feel and relate to the characters. I thought all the characters where awful in their own way except maybe Annette. So if you still want to read about the blizzard read the first half.
the_horror_maven's review
4.0
The Children's Blizzard is one historical event that I really hold close to my heart. I've always felt very connected to pioneer history, and I have even visited a historical marker in rememberance of this blizzard in South Dakota. Needless to say, I about jumped out of my skin when I saw this book at the bookstore and even paid full price for it because I was so excited to see a historical fiction novel address this event. Unfortunately, I became very disappointed in the writing. All of the characters were poorly developed and largely unlikeable. I think it was because she didn't take the time to build them and allow the reader to form a connection. There were also way too many characters in the book, which contributed to a feeling of overwhelm. The author clearly tried to remain historically accurate, so much so, that she didn't seem to take the time to make the characters complex, and her writing fell very flat. Even though I have studied this blizzard extensively, I did appreciate how she put some true background behind the event at the end of the book for those who aren't as aware of this particular history.
bethsponz's review
4.0
This story revolves around the true event of a blizzard in the Dakota territory in 1888. The characters and story are fictional but are based on actual events that did happen. The story is about two young teachers who must evacuate their students from school on this fateful day. The main causalities are children in this freak storm, hence the name The Children’s Blizzard.
positivewoman2013's review
4.0
This book has 2 parts, the first jumped right into the storm before I had the characters straight in my mind. In the 2nd part, I got to know the characters.
lilbt2003's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
fromsdtonh's review
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lindseyslittlelibrary's review
4.0
A fictional account of a tragic historic event. A sad bit great read.
natashia8911's review
5.0
Absolutely heartwrenching! The details of this event are so well scripted that I felt like I was in the story itself. I listened to this book as an audiobook rather than reading it and the narrator did a fabulous job as well.
kireagan's review
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-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
5.0