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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Yes
We enjoyed this one, but not quite as much as the previous ones. There were a lot of descriptions of clothes that I think became a bore.
We've finished the series! Myb9nyear old cried and cried when Laura got married and left home. I prefer to think their life was hopeful instead as sad and difficult as it was. It was so fun to read this to my daughter.
Alice and I agreed that this book is much better than its immediate predecessor. Alice said she liked that Laura was a little more opinionated, but she couldn’t get over the fact that she was dating someone eight years older starting when she was 15.
I had a hard time with the narration of this audiobook. For the vast majority of the book it was more than fine. But anytime, and it happened frequently, Laura exclaimed, “Oh, YES!” it was done so loudly and in such an odd style. Nails on a chalkboard I can still hear now.
I had a hard time with the narration of this audiobook. For the vast majority of the book it was more than fine. But anytime, and it happened frequently, Laura exclaimed, “Oh, YES!” it was done so loudly and in such an odd style. Nails on a chalkboard I can still hear now.
I'm trying to make it through the whole series, but I have to say, this was heavy going.
Other than a cool event near the beginning involving a crazy woman with a knife, there's very little to relieve the monotonous happiness of Laura, her perfect family, her budding career as a teacher, all culminating in her marriage to Almonzo.
There are a few episodes of bad weather and natural disaster, but they only strike nearby without seriously impacting Laura and those close to her (unlike the cool plague of locusts that completely wiped out the Ingalls' crops in [b:On the Banks of Plum Creek|7882|On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House, #4)|Laura Ingalls Wilder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1266449569l/7882._SX50_.jpg|1402758], or, of course, the long winter of [b:The Long Winter|8282|The Long Winter (Little House, #6)|Laura Ingalls Wilder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1266449683l/8282._SX50_.jpg|3327855]).
I realize that this is a fictionalized autobiography, but there really needs to be some suspense or conflict to make the story interesting.
Almonzo is the perfect gentleman in a quaint, old fashioned courtship. Laura stays in denial for the first half of the book or so, still seeing this full-grown man 10 years her senior as squiring her around as a favor to her father for reasons she can't understand. Then, almost with the turn of a page, Laura seems to sort of fall in love, though it is all very subdued and chaste. Laura and Almonzo both seem to be serious introverts as it is mentioned several times that scarcely a word is said on their dates (in stark contrast to Nellie Oleson, whose tongue never stops flapping).
The evil Nellie puts in a brief appearance trying to steal Laura's beau. She is the Frank Burns of the TV series and I hoped to see her be the victim of some cruel prank putting her in her place, but nothing like that happens. I guess everyone is getting too old for those hijinks.
Laura's family is so perfect, it is a major struggle for her to tear herself away. When we see the homes of other families, the author often takes the opportunity to highlight what squalor other families live in due to their laziness and bad character.
There are a few interesting historical details. I like the use of 'boughten' to describe store-bought furniture and other fancy items, as opposed to the handmade stuff. Laura's uncle tells an amusing story about intruding into Indian country with some other colonists. They build a stockade fort which keeps them safe, but they are essentially trapped there by the aggressive Indians who surround the place and harass them any time they try to go out to hunt or farm. They rejoice one day when the sound of bugles tells them the Army is near, but instead of driving the Indians away, the soldiers arrest the colonists and drag them away.
This is just a very girly book. There are lots of intricately detailed descriptions of dresses, jewelry and the like.
One more to go!
Other than a cool event near the beginning involving a crazy woman with a knife, there's very little to relieve the monotonous happiness of Laura, her perfect family, her budding career as a teacher, all culminating in her marriage to Almonzo.
There are a few episodes of bad weather and natural disaster, but they only strike nearby without seriously impacting Laura and those close to her (unlike the cool plague of locusts that completely wiped out the Ingalls' crops in [b:On the Banks of Plum Creek|7882|On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House, #4)|Laura Ingalls Wilder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1266449569l/7882._SX50_.jpg|1402758], or, of course, the long winter of [b:The Long Winter|8282|The Long Winter (Little House, #6)|Laura Ingalls Wilder|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1266449683l/8282._SX50_.jpg|3327855]).
I realize that this is a fictionalized autobiography, but there really needs to be some suspense or conflict to make the story interesting.
Almonzo is the perfect gentleman in a quaint, old fashioned courtship. Laura stays in denial for the first half of the book or so, still seeing this full-grown man 10 years her senior as squiring her around as a favor to her father for reasons she can't understand. Then, almost with the turn of a page, Laura seems to sort of fall in love, though it is all very subdued and chaste. Laura and Almonzo both seem to be serious introverts as it is mentioned several times that scarcely a word is said on their dates (in stark contrast to Nellie Oleson, whose tongue never stops flapping).
The evil Nellie puts in a brief appearance trying to steal Laura's beau. She is the Frank Burns of the TV series and I hoped to see her be the victim of some cruel prank putting her in her place, but nothing like that happens. I guess everyone is getting too old for those hijinks.
Laura's family is so perfect, it is a major struggle for her to tear herself away. When we see the homes of other families, the author often takes the opportunity to highlight what squalor other families live in due to their laziness and bad character.
There are a few interesting historical details. I like the use of 'boughten' to describe store-bought furniture and other fancy items, as opposed to the handmade stuff. Laura's uncle tells an amusing story about intruding into Indian country with some other colonists. They build a stockade fort which keeps them safe, but they are essentially trapped there by the aggressive Indians who surround the place and harass them any time they try to go out to hunt or farm. They rejoice one day when the sound of bugles tells them the Army is near, but instead of driving the Indians away, the soldiers arrest the colonists and drag them away.
This is just a very girly book. There are lots of intricately detailed descriptions of dresses, jewelry and the like.
One more to go!
Dude, Laura wears a black dress for her wedding and refuses to promise to obey her husband!
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I’ve always loved this one, with its buggy rides and singing school — and have always felt a nostalgic sorrow when Laura leaves home. Now, with a child at college, living her own life away from me, separated by borders and virus, that sense of time passing by is even more intense.
Starts off well, like most of the other books. Laura is about 16 years old at the beginning. Though she's still going to school, Laura has work-related adventures as a teacher and begins to grow up. Mary is progressing at college and all of this is great.
Then Pa spends all her teaching money, IN ADVANCE, on a musical organ. Yuck.
Then page after unromantic page about boring Almanzo Wilder and his dangerous unbroken horse.
The ending is particularly bad, and I almost imagine her at the end, sitting outside her cabin, realization dawning in her eyes that she's made a terrible mistake.
Then Pa spends all her teaching money, IN ADVANCE, on a musical organ. Yuck.
Then page after unromantic page about boring Almanzo Wilder and his dangerous unbroken horse.
The ending is particularly bad, and I almost imagine her at the end, sitting outside her cabin, realization dawning in her eyes that she's made a terrible mistake.